The ultimate goal of reading is to construct text meaning based on visually encoded information. Essentially, it entails converting print into language and then to the message intended by the author. It is hardly accidental, therefore, that, in all languages, reading builds on oral language competence and that learning to read uniformly requires…

This book provides educators, parents and caretakers with a variety of instructional strategies for engaging K-8 students. These approaches are designed to enable all students to read easily and enjoyably by utilizing different styles and approaches. The techniques are not generally found in conventional classrooms, but are specifically targeted…

Although over 15 years have passed since Witt (1990) noted that no empirical evidence exists to support the contention that a collaborative approach to consultation leads to more positive outcomes than a hierarchical or expert driven approach, this issue generally remains unaddressed (Schulte & Osborne, 2003). While the literature documenting…

A study investigated the effectiveness of a program for improving the recreational reading habits of fifth-grade students and encouraging them to become lifelong readers. The targeted population lived in a growing, low- to upper-middle-class, suburban community, located in Hanover Park, approximately 35 miles west of Chicago, Illinois. Students in…

A developmental project was designed to improve the course of study for Reading Specialist Credential candidates at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). The project is an example of action research that systematically developed an inservice presentation for improvement of classroom instruction in language arts.…

A series of five experiments tested the importance of four types of skill development (single-word decoding, vocabulary knowledge, knowledge of text schemas, and question-answering skills) for reading comprehension improvement. In two of three experiments involving undergraduates with no known reading problems, results indicated that teaching text…

A descriptive study examined how school districts in Texas identify students for dyslexia programs. Of the 300 districts surveyed, one-third responded with a long list of assessment instruments with no clear focus towards a definition of dyslexia, nor were notations cited accounting for discrepancies within learning achievement and other…

Presenting information for the improvement of instruction and services to at-risk students from elementary through beginning college levels, this ERIC "FAST Bib" focuses on recent research and strategies for Chapter 1, a federally funded program serving at-risk students since 1965. The FAST Bib presents 25 annotations of ERIC documents…

Reading is invisible. Any report of another's reading (beyond the level of word recognition) must rely on some kind of reproduction of the actual experience; there is no way to tap into the experience itself. After completing a pilot study, a small number of adolescents--5 eighth graders and 5 eleventh graders read the first four chapters of…

Anticipating a possible future method of newspaper design (including multimedia content) and delivery, a study examined the interface among people, modality (paper, computer, multimedia), and three types of news story (news, sports, entertainment). The "primacy of print" theory (which predicts that information will be recalled better…

Concerns are being raised in both professional literature as well as in the popular press regarding certain aspects of the literature-based movement. A longitudinal study investigated a group of first-grade teachers who have been attempting (with varying degrees of success) to introduce literature-based teaching strategies into their classrooms.…

A study was conducted which addressed the following questions: (1) Do elementary school children infer word meanings from context?; (2) Are older students more successful in using context to infer the meanings of new words than younger students?; and (3) Is a longer context more facilitating to word meaning inference than a shorter context?; and…

A study examined the relationship between two variable sets: (1) epistemological beliefs (Quick Learning, Simple-Certain Knowledge, and Innate Ability) and performance goals; and (2) conceptual understanding and application reasoning in conceptual change learning. In addition, effects of different kinds of prior knowledge on conceptual change…

This report considers preschool children's early literacy-related competencies. The data are from the first 2 years of the Early Childhood Project, a longitudinal investigation following preschool children from different sociocultural groups in Baltimore, Maryland, through their transition into the early years of elementary school. Children were…

This paper reviews literature on the effectiveness of reading-for-comprehension strategies at the primary (kindergarten through second grade) and intermediate (third through fifth grade) levels. The first section of the paper examines studies that seek to examine the distinctiveness hypothesis; the effectiveness of whole language instruction…