Various word-recognition tasks were completed by 54 second-grade students from classrooms where reading instruction followed the whole-language approach or the phonics/skill-based approach. A task involving a cloze procedure favored the whole-language approach, but there were no other significant differences between groups. Contains 30 references.…

This article addresses translating phonological awareness research for classroom reading instruction. It presents a practical overview of phonological awareness development and its relationship to beginning reading. Formal and informal assessment methods of children's phonological awareness are presented, and strategies are described for…

Describes a proven program of structured, sustained silent reading (SSR) for middle school students that helps students successfully develop academically and socially. Notes the learning climate attends to the cognitive, personal, and social needs of the learner. Discusses student-teacher conferences and SSR, and negotiating individual reading…

Describes a parent/school reading program in which parents were encouraged to increase the amount of time spent reading with their children at home. Notes that the school provided easily accessible reading materials, suggestions for encouraging reading at home, prizes and special activities. Concludes that program participants demonstrated a…

Reports an empirical investigation into the influence of purpose for reading on performance in reading in English as a Second Language for academic purposes. High intermediate and advanced level university students of ESL read an academic procedural text for one of two purposes. Results showed a significant interaction between purpose and task, as…

Reports on the efficacy of interventions made to improve the attrition rates of students of Japanese as a foreign language at the University of Sydney, Australia. Specifically, the study sought to evaluate differences in outcomes between students with a background in a morphographic writing system and those without such a background. (Author/VWL)

Presents the position of the International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children regarding early-literacy development to guide teachers of young children in schools and early childhood programs. Presents rationale and supporting research for their position. Describes early-literacy development and…

An after-school computer club was developed in which language-minority children learned to master a series of educational computer games through reading instructions, interacting with peers, and interacting with adult mentors. Results show how an informal educational environment can foster generalizable problem-solving skills that transfer to…

Suggests that teachers should provide text that supports students' changing interactions with text as they move from learning about print and how it works, to the labors of learning to decode, and on to growing independence and fluency. Highlights effective uses of simple predictable text, transitional text, decodable text, easy readers, and…

A kindergarten teacher relates her teaching experiences as she reexamines her role as teacher and shifts her focus from reading readiness to teaching reading. She reflects on her teaching practices, on learning new skills herself, and the challenge of incorporating new knowledge and practices into classroom instruction. (TJQ)

Suggests that the direct teaching of written language features is no substitute for extensive experience of written language. Gives a brief preliminary account of a recent Centre for Language in Primary Education (CLPE) research project on the influence of children's reading of literature on their writing at Key Stage 2. Highlights the value of…

This study examined whether small groups of grade 5 students in a London primary school, without teacher supervision, progressed linearly through an interactive storybook on CD-ROM, and whether such diversions as cued animations affected pupil comprehension. Results showed students' recall of the storyline was poor. (Author/LRW)

This article focuses on the reading instruction provided to students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). It reviews the knowledge base of early reading instruction and summarizes completed and ongoing research efforts relating to the instructional status quo for students with EBD in reading and efforts to improve academic outcomes. (CR)

This article reports on research on the effectiveness of a peer-assisted learning strategy (PALS) intervention to develop fluency in beginning readers with and without disabilities. Pairs of students complete phonically based activities and then repeated readings of a shared text. Evaluation indicated that the peer-mediated, repeated reading…

Integration of content in core disciplines is viewed as an important curricular component in promoting scientific literacy. This study characterized the current practices of a group of elementary teachers relative to their development of interdisciplinary links between science, mathematics, and literacy. A qualitative analysis of survey data…