Good readers tend to engage in conscious reading strategies that poor readers do not. Expert readers display the following strategic behaviors that novices do not: (1) studying text segments previously found difficult more extensively than easy segments; (2) spending more study time on difficult stories than on easy ones; (3) summarizing just the…

Researchers and teachers are beginning to realize that reading and writing are closely linked. Language experience is the key to success in reading and writing. Teachers must enrich students' language experiences by reading to them, talking with them, fostering an environment that recognizes their worth as language users, and modeling expected…

This book is a personal history of adult literacy as seen through the eyes of a student. The document assesses and evaluates styles of teaching and the student's role through the years 1969-1986 in England. The focus is on developing a new approach to literacy work, based on the principle of student-centered learning. In this method, the adult…

This article presents a model developed through a project that was designed to enhance teacher education at the university level. The basic goal of the project was to enable preservice teachers to view the teaching of reading, movement education, and music as a holistic process which encompasses aspects of the school day and emphasizes the…

A study examined: (1) the feasibility of using concept maps as a measure of content achievement; and (2) whether these measures were sensitive to knowledge learned after reading expository text. Subjects, 131 eighth-grade students, were taught a mapping technique which required them to analyze ideas into propositions and then arrange them into…

The study presents teaching techniques for use with elementary learning disabled students which utilize right brain simultaneous (as opposed to sequential or left brain) learning processes. It also describes a 15-week classroom project utilizing selected techniques with 11 learning disabled children in grades 2 through 6. The literature review and…

This digest about issues currently being debated in the adult literacy field examines the appropriate goals and objectives for adult literacy education, professionalization of the field, and literacy program evaluation. The first section reflects the disagreement between those who believe the purpose of literacy education should be to support…

The papers in this publication are, for the most part, coupled as a statement of position followed by a response. The subjects addressed cover a broad spectrum of educational philosophy. Topics chosen for presentation include: (1) basic reading instruction for hermeneutic understanding; (2) the teacher as a philospher; (3) the classroom as a…

This research review is an examination of representative studies on the nature of the reading process and of various instructional methods in reading deemed to be of interest to classroom teachers of reading. The review provides both a theoretical perspective and related empirical evidence to guide instructional practice and discusses the ways in…

Reading failure can be eliminated by the year 2000 if reading teachers believe it can be done, can develop the new procedures needed to make their dreams come true, and are willing to make fundamental changes in how they teach reading. Phonic utility research clearly indicates that phonics instruction is neither dependable nor useful. The current…

Whole language approaches to the teaching of reading and writing have received broad support by United States advocates of "critical pedagogy." This paper outlines a case study of the Australian implementation of whole language inservice courses for the teaching of literacy in elementary schools. Drawing from post-structuralist theory…

There are many ideas for class activities in a first grade whole language classroom that can make the class a richer environment without requiring a lot of time or preparation. "Whole language" is not a set of practices to teach reading; it is a set of beliefs, a philosophy about learning which derives from the notion of keeping learning…

Reflecting the concerns of researchers and practitioners about children's text comprehension, this book defines and provides examples of narrative and expository text and describes research-based strategies for helping children comprehend these two types of text. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Research on Stories: Implications…

A pilot study was conducted to contrast children's comprehension of inside view (where writers share the inner thoughts of characters with readers) and character plans in an original story and its basal reader adaptation prior to and following participation in a reading conference focused upon these aspects of character. Subjects were 12 students…

The implementation evaluation of the Achievement Goals Program (AGP) included a survey of program users. This report presents the findings of that survey conducted in 1984. The users included teachers, resource teachers, and site administrators. The AGP was first initiated by the San Diego City Schools to meet the demands of the court. The…