A study explored the perceptions of 155 early field experience (EFE) elementary education majors who were in one of six sections of a reading methods course at a midwestern university. Responses to an open-ended final examination question at the end of three consecutive semesters asked students to describe and evaluate the classroom reading…

A study was conducted to develop an improved program of teacher education in diagnosis of reading difficulties in a graduate reading practicum. Fifteen teachers in the pilot study worked with one or two students daily for 6 weeks. The pilot study offered some indication that teachers' preservice and inservice experiences may have emphasized…

Language and culture shape the meanings that are attached to experience and to text. Yet, it is often believed that literacy work can be standardized and formalized, industrialized and normalized, as if adult new readers constructed meaning differently from proficient readers. Workplace literacy programs too often teach the employer's meaning and…

Intended for practitioners, this book's major purpose is to reaffirm the unique and integral roles reading and literacy play in middle school curriculum and instruction. The book emphasizes: (1) the research-based rationale for what educators teach in reading and how it is taught; (2) an integration of reading with writing; (3) an acknowledgement…

This research report documents the development of the Reading Recovery Program in the United States from its inception in 1984. The report provides summaries of the various empirical studies that have been conducted. The report concludes that: (1) evidence from the first years of implementation indicates that Reading Recovery has had positive…

Reading comprehension is much more than a decoding of the printed words on the page; it is, rather, a complex interaction between readers and their personal past experiences as they relate to the text. A connection between the text and past experiences of the readers can stimulate expectations about the text. Facilitating these links presupposes a…

Instructors, advisors, students, parents, and others involved in the elementary and secondary level Chapter 1 project of the Albuquerque Public Schools were surveyed to ascertain which program services they felt were most needed. Results, based on information from 3,567 individuals, provided the following needs, presented in rank order: (1)…

This report describes and evaluates the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) 1984-85 Chapter 1 instructional program and its effect on student performance. The following information is reported or described: (1) conclusions and recommendations; (2) participating schools and cost summaries; (3) identification of eligible schools; (4) identification of…

Intended for teachers of English as a second language, this paper treats the common problems instructors encounter in helping students improve their English language reading skills and offers practical exercises designed to enhance the reading experience for foreign students. Following an introductory section that discusses the particular…

A study examined the use of time reserved for formal reading instruction in elementary schools. Subjects were 36 elementary classroom teachers--12 each from grades 1, 3, and 5--in 8 suburban schools. Specific reading instruction behaviors for each teacher were observed during two complete periods of the regularly scheduled reading classes. Teacher…

Noting that the popular press and other media have purveyed much information and misinformation about the status of adult literacy in the United States, this paper focuses upon what is known about literacy levels and gives special attention to changes in literacy demands and to what is currently being done to meet those demands. The first section…

A survey was conducted in March 1987, which evaluated the effectiveness of workshops on the use of newspapers in education. Questionnaire responses from 78 teacher/participants of 35 workshops in 13 states were used to determine (1) factors contributing to successful workshops, (2) implications for classrooms, and (3) suggestions for future…

Developed for the purpose of providing Oklahoma teachers and administrators with objectives upon which a curriculum could be formed, this guide presents learner outcomes for students of grades one through eight. Each subject discipline is described in terms of its philosophy, learning objectives, and skill areas. Subject areas presented include:…

A series of studies conducted to examine deficits in reading comprehension skills of low ability, young adult readers and to evaluate computer-based systems that have been designed to improve skills deficiencies in comprehension are described in this report. The studies described in the first section of the report: (1) examined readers' use of…

The primary focuse of the research project reported in this paper over a five-year period has been on investigating the effectiveness of vocabulary teaching strategies, with particular emphasis on the two semantic-based instructional strategies of semantic mapping and semantic feature analysis. A series of five varied studies evaluated these…