Describes an effort to train parents to respond selectively to miscues and to pay attention to the timing of their responses, to use meaning-focused cues, and to use praise. Concludes that parents can teach and students can learn effective strategies to decrease error rate. (RS)

Examines how the use of self-directed training materials and limited inservice training improved the quality of teaching the Direct Reading-Thinking Activity. Concludes that teachers' verbal behavior in directing story reading can be easily modified. (MM)

Examines the differences between oral and written languages, including differences in register, style, and syntax. Asserts that reading aloud and giving instructions are two ways to focus on the connection between oral and written language and the processes of reading and writing. (MM)

Describes a five-year research and development project that led to the creation of a decoding program for poor readers in grades one through eight. Uses action research as a means of developing the program and modifying the research. Finds that the word identification program enabled students to become better decoders and allowed them to make…

Examined a kindergarten teacher's implementation of a whole-language program and her students' responses to questions about reading, such as, Can you read? What can you read? What is reading? and When did you learn to read? Seventy-five percent of the children indicated that they had learned to read during kindergarten or when they were…

Investigates the nature of teacher questioning and its relationship to what learners consider important to remember when processing exposition. Focuses on questions that have been determined to be of high, medium, or low structural importance. Finds that students are relatively aware of the information that their teachers will test and that this…

Finds surface-level metacognitive knowledge across three metacognitive domains--declarative, procedural, and conditional. Finds that average middle school students' (grades four through eight) metacognitive knowledge of science reading, science text, and science reading strategies is similar to that of younger and poorer readers of narrative text.…

Determined that emergent literacy activities that experts identified as appropriate to instructional materials were not prominent in basal text materials. Found small differences between meaning- and decoding-oriented material in literary quality, letter-sound correspondence, and word identification. (BC)

Discusses research on children's speed in identifying digits and letters in continuous lists and discrete trials. Latency for word identification and digit naming varied considerably. Naming speed contributed variance in reading skill independently of measures of phonological awareness. (Author/GH)

Explores the reactions of fourth and seventh grade students to two picture books about Columbus written from two different perspectives (white European explorer and Native American). Notes that the fourth graders saw Columbus as either all good or all bad after reading the books but that seventh graders were able to recognize the complexities of…

Review of 48 studies concerning interventions designed to impact the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities suggests that strong effect sizes are more likely when researchers compare experimental treatment to nontreatment, deliver treatment themselves rather than have classroom teachers deliver it, and assess treatment…

Finds 3 patterns of book-reading experiences in 24 classrooms of 4-year olds: coconstructive; didactic-interactional; and performance-oriented. Finds larger gains (one year later) by children in the performance-oriented classrooms than by those in the didactic-interactional rooms. Reveals strong effects of child-involved analytic talk on…

Presents results of a nationwide survey to determine measures being used to diagnose reading difficulties and place students in learning disability or Chapter 1 classes. Finds that calls for change in assessment and placement practices have largely been ignored and implications suggest a need for reform. (MG)

Explores the validity of the reading comprehension skills distinctiveness hypothesis. Finds that results argue for a unitary or holistic view of reading comprehension and suggest increasing the time students spend in sustained reading of self-selected materials as a means for improving students' reading comprehension. (MG)

Explores the effects of the use of aesthetic and efferent stances in response to literature with 43 fourth graders, 47 sixth graders, and 40 eighth graders. Finds use of an aesthetic stance is associated with higher levels of personal understanding and the level of understanding increases with grade level. (MG)