A study examined the experiences of students, teachers, and principals involved in the day-to-day teaching of early elementary reading in four of the 12 Texas "Spotlight Schools" (schools that emphasize early elementary reading and are useful in helping all children to read). Data were collected during four-day site visits to each…

This booklet presents many examples of instructional activities that occur on a daily basis on the campuses of Spotlight Schools, schools identified by the Texas Education Agency as having student populations that reflect a diversity of ethnicity and socioeconomic backgrounds, and demonstrate that essentially all children can become readers. It is…

This report describes a program that will improve reading comprehension. The targeted population consists of second grade students at a rural northwestern Illinois school. Evidence for the existence of reading problems included daily teacher observations, student reading surveys, and assessments that indicated the level of student reading…

This publication presents proceedings from the Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) fall 2000 conference. The first general session presentation was "Through the Eyes of Children... Creating a Shared Vision of Education" (Don Suskind), and the second session was "Teachers and Administrators: Responsible for…

This paper provides an overview of the Four Blocks framework, a teaching framework developed by professional educators, that aims to teach all children to read by providing daily exposure to a variety of instructional approaches. Four Blocks is intended for use in regular, heterogeneously constructed K-3 classrooms. It supports individual learning…

Preservice teachers had the opportunity to make use of computers while tutoring elementary and middle school children in reading, mathematics, and integrated reading and mathematics. These tutors (n=128) responded to a survey that was designed to elicit responses about the value of computer use for tutoring and the motivational and learning…

All parents want the best school experience for their children. This booklet, presented in both English and Spanish, offers parents specific strategies to provide their children a good foundation for beginning reading. The guide first answers the question, "How Can I Help My Child Be Ready To Read and Ready To Learn?" with emergent literacy…

This study investigated the suitability of Open Court for teaching English language learners (ELLs). Open Court is a scripted curriculum that emphasizes basic skills broken down into discrete parts and subparts. Its teacher's manual specifies amount of time per activity and teacher language required. Teachers are overseen by coaches who ensure…

The ability to read is critical for a child's future learning, and it opens the doors to social and economic advancement. Unfortunately, 17% to 20% of children in the United States encounter significant difficulties in learning to read. Although not all reading disabilities can be traced to obvious risk factors, such difficulties occur in…

Hidden messages are part of the culture of reading at any school, particularly at the secondary level. In many schools, the overt message that reading is essential to success on state-mandated tests and in society is jeopardized due to hidden messages about the nature of the reading process and the place of reading in everyday life. A qualitative…

Combining essential background knowledge with hands-on tools, this practical resource and textbook provides a detailed road map for conducting multidimensional reading assessment. The book presents effective ways to evaluate K-6 students' spelling, word recognition, fluency, comprehension, strategic knowledge, and more. Intended for preservice and…

This monograph presents a collection of methods, materials, and techniques for assessing and teaching students with mild to moderate mental retardation to become successfully literate. Part 1 offers a foundation for literacy instruction and considers whether students with mental retardation can learn to read and write, the existence of multiple…

A study examined the effectiveness of specific teaching strategies in the reading curriculum that would help underachieving first-grade students meet reading standards by the end of the school year. Subjects, 6 underachieving students, were given the Basic Phonics Skills Test (BPST), the Results high frequency word list, and the Results reading…

This study investigated what would happen when a student teacher incorporated different techniques for improving comprehension into a third-grade reading group consisting of 10 diverse students. The study noted how comprehension changed when students did creative writing in response to literature and how story mapping or character perspective…

Recognizing that productively engaging low-achieving adolescents in print-rich classrooms is complicated, this book presents 40 articles that focus specifically on teaching struggling readers in middle school and high school classrooms. The articles in the book are drawn primarily from the "Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy." The book is…