A study that examined perceptions and knowledge of 252 preservice educators and 286 inservice educators about early reading instruction found inservice educators had more positive attitudes about explicit code instruction and preservice educators were more positive about implicit code instruction. However, both groups demonstrated limited…

In individual telephone interviews, 234 low-income African-American, Caucasian, and Latino parents rated the importance of helping their second- and third-grade children in reading, math, and homework and of knowing what their children are learning. Parents reported whether they had taught their child in math and reading and read with their child…

Reading specialists, as well as members of the general public, have long sought to understand why so many children in the United States read below grade level and why so many of its adult citizens are illiterate. While problems associated with reading are not unique to the United States, it is noteworthy that some nations do not experience major…

In this personal narrative, the author describes "READ 180," a framework designed to teach struggling readers. The READ 180 program is premised on surface-level skills. Students answer comprehension questions and spell words with a keyboard and a computer screen rather than a booklet, pencil, and paper. Describing her experience with one…

In the early 1980s, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) revised its policies on reading instruction. A new transactional definition of reading shifted the emphasis from discrete reading skills to comprehension and set out objectives consistent with that new definition. Policymakers also revised the state?s reading-evaluation instruments,…

Looking at printed pages is no longer the only way to enjoy a story or learn facts. Today there's a wealth of titles being produced as sound recordings, and teachers can use these audiobooks to improve listening skills, to arrange an audio author visit, and to provide an extra set of vocal chords in the classroom. Recorded books can help educators…

First and second grade public school teachers were trained through interactive video-conferencing to implement "Language Enrichment," an Orton-Gillingham-based literacy instruction. The effectiveness of the linguistically informed training was demonstrated by documenting the longitudinal third grade reading comprehension achievement of…

The purpose of this case study was to examine the effects of a code-based reading tutorial in English for eight beginning at-risk readers who were English learners (ELs) and for their preservice teacher-tutors. Eight undergraduate preservice special education teachers tutored the ELs twice weekly for a total of 15 hr to fulfill a required service…

To study the effects of Metacognitve Reading Program on Reading achievement and metacognitive strategies of students with cases of dyslexia, the author conducted a single-case quasi-experimental. The conceptual framework of the study was based on the theories of cognitive processes stating that metacognition helps regulate the flow of information…

The paper argues that the term "literacy" has become attached to too many disparate practices, and that renewed attention needs to be paid to how the acquisition and use of skills of written communication are conditioned by the core structures of the home, the classroom, and the state. It reviews the current usages of literacy and…

The ability to effectively use reading as a study skill is critical to academic success at the middle- and high-school levels. In an age of high-stakes testing and accountability, content-area specialists, teaching multiple sections of students each day within clearly designated time periods, must focus the majority of their instructional efforts…

This paper reports on two years of a multiyear consultation/professional development project based on socioconstructivist principles (situated cognition, social context, and scaffolded instruction) that are consistent with key elements of positive psychology. The consultation model used a case analysis framework to engage 12 elementary school…

During the spring of 2004, we conducted research exploring the emotions of struggling readers. Specifically we were interested in finding out how school contexts, curriculum, and relationships influence students' experiences of struggle. Students in this study were 14 first, second, and third graders identified for reading intervention at their…

The relative importance of internal and external letter features of words in children's developing reading was investigated to clarify further the nature of early featural analysis. In Experiment 1, 72 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds read aloud words displayed as wholes, external features only (central features missing, thereby preserving word shape…

This article describes a small-scale project designed to help engage reluctant adolescent readers in voluntary reading practice during sustained silent reading (SSR). Three teachers worked with a secondary school reading expert to identify and agree on elements of effective instructional conversations and then implemented these "book talks" with a…