An instructional program, based on the instructional systems design model, was developed to assist at-risk students at a New York State elementary school in decoding the consonants b, d, t, and s. Eight first-grade students who displayed difficulty in decoding words participated in the program which took place in a "reading corner" set up within…

A study examined parent decisions prior to and during reading aloud events with their first-grade children. Subjects were the parents of 342 first-graders in a suburban public elementary school district. Multiple methods of data collection were used, including surveys, diaries, interviews, videotapes, and stimulated recalls. Based on an analysis…

A case study documented the emergence of literacy in an extremely precocious reader between the ages of 2 years, 7 months and 3 years, 2 months. The case study examined the relation between the subject's oral language and reading development; the bases of his word identification; the relation between his reading and writing development; and…

This paper briefly reviews the state of the art in reader response research with special reference to the Danish studies in reader responses. The paper then proceeds to a discussion of a number of methodological problems inherent in setting up questions for cross-cultural (and international) studies in general, and for reader response studies in…

A study investigated whether students in whole language based and basal reader approaches would have different concepts of reading when asked to define reading. Subjects, 69 suburban New Jersey first and third graders and 16 New Zealand first graders, were asked 3 questions: "What is reading?"; "What do you do when you read?";…

A longitudinal study of growth in reading ability employed two new indicators of print exposure that use a checklist-with-foils logic and that have very brief administration times. Subjects, 52 boys and 46 girls from 4 different fourth- and fifth-grade classes in a religiously-affiliated private school, completed the Title Recognition Test (TRT)…

Two studies investigated the role of phonological activation in children's silent reading and listening comprehension. The first study addressed the interaction of reading skill level and phonological sensitivity. Subjects, 32 second-grade students, read eight short passages (four rhymed and four not rhymed) and chose one picture (out of three…

A study attempted to delineate the parameters of practice that are referred to as literature-based reading instruction and explored the perspectives of the teacher, the students, and the researcher about the use of literature in three different literature-based classrooms. Six teachers (third grade or above) were identified, teachers who were…

Research on six major issues in reading is organized into charts and a bibliography. For each of the six areas (schema theory, reading strategies and processes, comprehension studies, culture and reading, methods for teaching reading, cognitive/metacognitive issues), relevant research is summarized in a chart. Each chart contains two sections, one…

Although reading has been studied extensively over the past few decades, its measurement and amelioration continues to be problematic. This paper explores the reasons for this within a psycho-educational perspective and offers several new alternative theoretical positions from which to view prose processing and enhancement. Implications for…

A study examined three issues concerning reading comprehension: amount of instruction in comprehension strategies; cultural backgrounds of students; and transfer and self-initiated automaticity. Two methods of creating transfer--students either taught a strategy they had learned to younger classmates, or created their own strategic lessons and…

Noting that proposed models of literacy development suggest that reading and writing mutually influence and grow from each other, this paper summarizes aspects of stage theories of literacy development and an integrative model, and considers how the model fared in empirical longitudinal tests. The paper begins with a summary of the modal aspects…

A study traced the establishment and implementation of the Reading Recovery program on the North Coast of New South Wales (Australia) in 1991. Teachers at the 12 schools involved in the program, key personnel at the New South Wales Department of School Education and the Catholic Education Office, and the Reading Recovery Tutor were interviewed.…

A study determined the relationship between life stress and reading comprehension test scores on the IOWA Tests of Basic Skills. Subjects, 41 middle-school students attending Lincoln School in Garwood, New Jersey, were surveyed as to the amount of life stress prevalent in their lives. In addition, the Iowa scores for reading comprehension were…

Noting the growing consensus among researchers and policy makers that prevention of learning problems makes much more sense than remediation, this book reviews research into the effects of various early childhood interventions on the academic performance of young children, particularly those who are at risk for reading failure. The reviews…