Knowing and learning about students' lives are an essential part of teaching reading to adults. Student journals provide a way for teachers to know and respond to students' personal histories. Adult learners must value themselves and the knowledge they already possess in adult basic education and other realms. (SLD)

Reports a study which looked for measurable differences between the vocabulary achievement scores of remedial reading elementary students (mostly Hispanic) taught with teacher instruction and those taught with computer assisted instruction (CAI). Although the differences were not statistically significant, consistent improvement was measured for…

Presents five pictures of fifth grade low-achieving students involved in reading-writing activities. Presents two alternatives to current classroom practices for nonmainstream students: prize the culture of nonmainstream students; and view storytelling as another literacy. (MG)

This article discusses a widespread failure of schools to match reading instruction to children's needs, identifying large class sizes, dependence on basal reader programs and questionable testing practices as contributing factors. Basal materials are seen as contributing to standardized curricula and impeding efforts to shift teacher behavior…

Reviews the research literature on Writing to Read (WTR), a computer-based language arts program designed to help kindergarten and first grade students develop reading and writing skills. Limitations of the evaluation reports, research projects, and specialized applications of WTR are reviewed, and problems in research design and methodology are…

Discusses the cultural mediation of thinking and the idea of schools as special cultural settings that are never neutral. Describes an approach that mediates the school's contradiction between access to and control of literacy through a pedagogy that transcends the classroom and challenges the reductionist tendencies that characterize…

Describes an undergraduate college/high school integrated class in Buffalo State College's interactive classroom. This entry-level course was in study skills and reading, and was joined by interactive television to three urban, rural, and suburban high schools through Project Jump Start. Experiences show that the interactive classroom bridges…

Provides five fully developed library media activities that are designed for use with specific curriculum units in mathematics, reading, language arts, science, social studies, and art. Library media skills, objectives, grade levels, resources, instructional roles, procedures, evaluation, and follow-up are described for each activity. (LRW)

Argues that the key to helping one seventh-grade boy make the transition from non-reader to reader was in changing his self-image as a non-reader. Shows how he became actively engaged in reading and writing when he felt valued, took risks, and developed his own ideas. Argues for more closely aligning students' lives within school and outside…

Individual and focus group interviews with 49 third-grade regular and special education teachers revealed that teachers value control over their decisions on grouping for reading instruction. Regular teachers reported they preferred whole class and mixed ability grouping arrangements for social and academic reasons, whereas special educators…

Describes the formation of the new "California Reading Initiative" that directly ties school funding to practices such as teaching phonemic awareness and systematic, explicit phonics. Assesses its research base, and discusses problems in teaching Limited-English-Proficient students to read following its directives. Presents research that supports…

This article examines issues in bilingual special education in the context of moving from a skills-based approach to a whole language approach. Classroom observations in a self-contained elementary classroom for students with learning disabilities revealed the role of the native language and background experiences, the teacher's role in assessing…

Provides five fully developed library media activities that are designed for use with specific curriculum units in reading and language arts, science, and social studies. Library skills, objectives, grade levels, instructional roles, procedures, evaluation, and follow-up are described for each activity. Topics include poetry, memory, plant/animal…

Examines the attitudes, experiences, and practices of parents towards reading, and how this affected their children. Although many parents actively promoted reading at home, they lacked confidence in their abilities and expressed a desire for training and assistance. Discovers a need for greater communication between parents and teachers. (MJP)

Provides a research-based description of the distinguishing qualities of excellent classroom reading teachers. Discusses what excellent reading teachers know about reading development, how they assess student progress, what kinds of reading materials they use in their classrooms, how they organize classrooms for instruction, and how they interact…