This article explains the basic tenets of the skills-based and the holistic philosophies of reading instruction. Although the skills-based approach is dominant in both schools and teacher education, debate exists about the most effective approach. (IAH)

Describes the positive impact of using reading and writing workshops (as described in Nancie Atwell's "In the Middle") in an urban school. Argues that the workshop format can work for large classes composed of students at many different ability levels and from many different cultures and races. (RS)

Shares ways in which teachers who use a basal reading series can go beyond the manual and integrate the whole language approach into the language arts program. (MG)

Describes in detail a successful unit of study done on the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" that both satisfies particular curricular demands and suits the temperament and interests of young adolescents. (KEH)

Investigates the amount of time teachers devote to directed reading activities and reading skills instruction; the amount of time devoted to components of each approach; and which instructional strategies are used in each approach and with what frequency. Finds that the majority of time allocated for reading lessons is devoted to reading skills…

Maintains that one of the most important contributions a principal can make to remedial and at-risk students is to support independent reading. Discusses curricular congruence and the use of sustained silent reading, paired repeated reading, maintenance of reading levels, reading recovery, and paired reading for prevention as well as remediation.…

In this cross-age tutoring project, severely learning-disabled high school students tutored primary students who were having difficulty with reading. Tutors were trained in good teacher behaviors (giving positive and corrective feedback, avoiding overprompting) and in the use of established techniques for teaching reading. (JDD)

Provides opinions of five eminent educators on a variety of issues in literacy education including phonics, emergent literacy, reading and writing relationships, whole language, and defining literacy. (MG)

Answers questions about collaborative learning and offers some strategies to use with students. (MG)

A project was developed which successfully taught individuals with visual impairments to read commercial large-print books, with either their own reading spectacles or with lower levels of magnification than usually prescribed. Over the course of the project, print sizes were systematically reduced and healthy reading habits were re-taught. (JDD)

Evaluates two approaches to conveying new ideas about teaching reading to beginning teachers: (1) a traditional approach where an instructor prescribes reading techniques by modeling examples, and (2) an approach in which the instructor and student teacher collaborate to create individual variations beyond the examples provided. (MM)

Results of observations and interviews assessing the qualitative nature of reading and math instruction received by different categories of mildly handicapped learners (educable mentally retarded, learning disabled, emotionally/behaviorally disturbed), and by nonhandicapped learners (N=122), indicated few differences in instructional quality. The…

Examines the foreign language learning needs of undergraduate and postgraduate learners of Russian, focusing on their need to develop reading skills and on the effectiveness of traditional instructional materials designed to foster the development of foreign language reading skills. Alternative strategies for integrating reading into the total…

Asserts that reading tests can be neither ignored, nor allowed to control the classroom. Describes the teaching of "reading-test reading" as a genre in a first grade literature-based classroom. Presents children's views of the genre and how their understanding of it affects their view of themselves as readers. (SR)

The paper describes procedures for reducing reading errors and building oral reading fluency by having students read along with audiotapes of passages recorded at rates somewhat faster than the learner's current performance level. Steps involved in this challenging reading method include assessment, daily timings, error correction, and rate…