The extraordinary nursery library produced by Jane Johnson (circa 1742-1747), entirely in the private domain with no thought of publication, holds pride of place in the Lilly Library's collection of early children's books at the University of Indiana, USA. It has already been celebrated in an exhibition and international conference held at the…

Federal mandates have created a high-pressure climate of testing in today's classrooms, and educators are left to balance these constantly changing demands with lessons that will challenge the academic lives of their students. Technology and the wealth of information it makes available can and should change teaching and learning, but that …

A learning situation in which the principal content of what is to be learned is not given but is independently discovered by the learner is often considered "discovery learning." Recently, learning scientists have been able to make explicit some of the conditions under which such independent discovery is likely to occur (Andronis, 1983; Epstein,…

Erin Rogers is on a mission to change teachers' minds. As a literacy coach at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington, she advises other teachers on how to infuse literacy into lessons across the curriculum. It's not an easy job: many secondary school instructors see themselves as content experts and believe that teaching reading is best left…

Students enrolled in technical programs prefer hands-on activities over reading and writing. While hands-on learning works well for conveying technical skills, most technical jobs will also require good reading, writing, and oral communication skills. Effective reading includes more than just "mouthing the words"--it calls for understanding and…

This article reports on a sample of 26 middle-class Chinese immigrant parents' perspectives on their children's reading, writing, mathematics learning, and homework, and on the parents' involvement in and communication with mainstream American schools. Findings suggested both consistencies and discrepancies between their beliefs and practices.…

Most teachers in developed societies use ready-made programs to teach initial reading. The present study compares the effects of 3 such programs, covering 70% of the market. Programs differed with respect to their student versus whole-class orientation and the availability of teaching materials. The program outcomes investigated were Word Reading,…

Asking questions is a powerful way for students to learn. They use questions as a "pathway to wandering and wondering" and as a tool to turn confusing curriculum into meaningful learning. In this way, "student generated questions may lead to more demanding study, particularly when the prescribed curriculum is too often preoccupied with answers to…

This study evaluated the effects of a reading intervention on the reading achievement and social behaviors of 6 third-grade students with emotional/behavioral disorders. Reading instruction occurred 4 days a week using the Horizons Fast Track reading program and Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies. Analyses indicated variable improvements in basic…

A recent report by Dr. Randall Ryder evaluated the use of Direct Instruction (DI) reading programs in 2 school districts in Wisconsin. In the report, Ryder claimed that students in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade who received Direct Instruction scored significantly lower on several standardized tests of reading than students who received more traditional…

Vocabulary and text comprehension strategies are acknowledged as critical components of any comprehensive reading program. This article highlights the scientifically-based research on effective reading instruction related to vocabulary and comprehension development. Specifically, the article provides explicit formats integrating these important…

Learning to read is a major milestone and should be an event to celebrate. The author of this article relates the story of how, with the encouragement of her principal, and the help of a children's librarian at the public library, the community coordinator at a nearby Barnes and Noble, and a children's book buyer at a local independent book store,…

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to learn how beginning elementary teachers understood and used curriculum materials for teaching reading, and how, in turn, these materials shaped teachers' instruction. We followed 4 teachers who worked in markedly different school situations and were provided a variety of curriculum materials, ranging…

Describes an applied training study investigating the differential effect of two instructional methods on the reading performance of British primary school children with reading difficulties. Explains that children ages 7 to 10 (n=65) were separated into two groups: (1) based on different types of phonological awareness instruction, and (2) a…

What are the sources of teachers' professional knowledge for the teaching of reading? This paper reports findings from a study that investigated the role of teachers in the current Research-Policy-Praxis Nexus (RPPN). This was achieved by a specific focus upon constructions of reading in the early years in Victoria, Australia. All of the teacher…