Examines students reported and demonstrated knowledge of three structural properties of text: topic relatedness, superordination, and cohesion. Reports students are only moderately knowledgeable about topic relatedness and superordination, and unknowledgeable about cohesion. (RS)

Discusses links between visual literacy and print literacy in the following areas: graphic organizers; propaganda; video technologies; computer use; and children's drawing and writing. Describes a semiotic-theory model, depicting relationships among not only linguistic signs and visual signs, but other signs (musical, gestural, etc.) in…

Investigates the discussions of fifth and sixth grade literature study groups led by teachers in training. Finds children of varying abilities participating in rich discussions of literature, articulating and changing their constructions of meaning, sharing personal stories triggered by the reading, hypothesizing and predicting, and evaluating the…

Investigates student teachers' and beginning teachers' perceptions of the low reading group. Finds that student and beginning teachers perceive low reading groups significantly more negatively than they regard high reading groups. Notes that student teachers' perceptions at the start of their assignment were retained upon completion of their…

Traces the history of the early reading movement in Italy and relates the experiences of parent-guided reading with preschool children and teacher-guided reading with kindergarten children. Recent studies on early reading and research in the area of early bilingual reading is discussed. (CFM)

Finds that the keys to success were communication and collaboration between specialists and teachers. Notes that the participants expressed an awareness of the changing roles of reading specialists. Finds that major strengths were promoting self-esteem, fostering a love of reading, providing specialized instruction, serving as a student advocate,…

Presents findings from a longitudinal study of reading comprehension development that revealed a negative relationship between the amount of time kindergarten and first-grade teachers spend reading to their students' reading achievement. Results are discussed in terms of a "displacement theory." Students' reading achievement is related to their…

Merges the Simple View of reading with rauding theory by advancing a revision, called Simple View II. Presents empirical evidence that, when the Simple View II is merged with rauding theory, the result is a theoretical framework which includes interrelationships among all of the important constructs involved in reading ability, for students in…

Examines the first-grade materials in five new basal programs submitted for the 1993 Texas state adoption, comparing them with program materials currently in use in the state. Finds substantial changes in the more recent series. Interprets findings in terms of historical trends as well as recent developments in the literature-based and…

Summarizes a key finding from a four-year longitudinal study of intrinsic motivation for literacy learning. Finds that this motivation may diminish as students move from elementary to middle grades and may be linked to fewer opportunities for self-expression in their learning environments. (SR)

Examines the study strategies of successful and unsuccessful learners to determine whether successful learners differ qualitatively in their information processing from unsuccessful learners. Finds that, the successful students were more active, purposeful, and flexible in their strategy use. Finds that although unsuccessful students were less…

Examines the research on the central role of decoding in reading, concluding that the position that whole language proponents take in equating learning to read with learning to talk and their reduction of decoding to an incidental place in the curriculum are wrong. The authors argue for a balanced approach to reading instruction. (GR)

Finds that children at-risk for reading disability who received a median of 58 one-to-one tutoring sessions during first grade showed superior word recognition in isolation and in context, superior reading speed, and improved comprehension compared to well-matched controls at completion of tutoring, at the end of first grade, and at third grade.…

Documents the perceptions of literacy acquisition held by parents from three different cultural groups (Chinese Canadian, Euro-Canadian, and Indo-Canadian). Suggests that cultural membership is a crucial variable to examine, and that communicating dimensions of literacy programs to parents may be very difficult given the ways in which cultural…

Compares differences in achievement of below-grade-level students receiving basal reading instruction with peers in a writing-process-oriented language arts program. Finds that language arts students spent more time reading and writing, were exposed to more types of literature and writing activities, and exhibited more positive attitudes toward…