This study evaluated the effectiveness of a four-step phonological awareness strategy on the reading skills of nine third-grade students with learning disabilities or educable mental retardation. Results indicated students made substantial improvement on measures of blending and segmenting sounds, pronouncing words, auditory discrimination, and…

A teacher experimented to determine whether ninth-grade nonreaders could progress in an Israeli English class for weak learners. All students worked on reading and listening skills, with nonreaders focused on vocabulary building and learning grammar in context; for readers, grammar instruction was more abstract. Students worked at their own paces.…

Discusses the whole literacy curriculum, which encompasses ownership, the writing process, reading comprehension, language and vocabulary knowledge, word reading and spelling strategies, voluntary reading. Outcomes of a five-year implementation effort in Hawaii indicate curriculum can improve literacy achievement of students of diverse…

Responses from about 40 teachers receiving training in adult basic education and English for speakers of other languages found that (1) they sought practical/procedural knowledge; (2) few seemed aware of issues of literacy, culture, and power; and (3) they wanted to understand the difference between first- and second-language development. (SK)

Profiles the "Ready to Read Project," a literacy program developed in 1988 and implemented throughout several South Pacific islands including Fiji, Western Samoa, and the Marshall Islands. The program established a whole-language approach to English literacy based on principles and philosophies grounded in local and international reading…

Used classroom observations and in-depth interviews to study first-grade teachers nominated as outstanding or typical in ability to help students develop literacy skills. Characteristics of teachers whose students demonstrated highest achievement included (1) coherent and thorough integration of skills with high-quality reading/writing…

Describes the implementation and evaluation of a cross-age tutoring program in which 21 struggling seventh-grade readers tutored third-graders, based on strategies and preparation they learned in their own Strategic Reading class. Notes that reading skills and enjoyment of these seventh-grade students were significantly expanded. Discusses factors…

This article describes a teacher-researcher collaboration, "Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies for Kindergartens," or K-PALS, which was the reading readiness program produced by the partnership. The development of K-PALS is discussed, along with research showing that it promotes young children's reading development and fits easily into classrooms.…

A study investigated the effects of a software-based early reading program on the early reading ability of 55 first-graders with disabilities or who had potential for reading failure. Results showed students showed dramatic improvements following the 16-week program, including the skills of phonemic awareness, spelling, and word identification.…

Examines the ways in which teachers expected their students to use, or to know how to use, certain reading skills. Reveals a significant interaction between ability and reading component in an analysis of variance (grade x ability x component). Suggests that teachers' expectations about students' reading skills are related strongly to the ability…

Describes how a beginning teacher learned to teach an African American second grader to read. The narrative unfolds through a longitudinal study of the teacher's learning to teach diverse students. The story illustrates important influences upon her learning to teach and resisting norms that excluded attention to children's diverse needs. (SM)

Discusses findings on the lexical competence of students who are not native-speakers of English but who have been through an education system in which that language is the medium of instruction. The data indicate the existence of a problem related to use rather than to inadequate knowledge of word-meaning. Traditional criteria for item selection…

Reports a study of eight teachers identified as empowered or having become more empowered, focusing on influences on and the developmental process of teacher empowerment. Journal entries, interviews, and observations as teachers conducted reading and language arts instruction demonstrated that gaining empowerment was a spiraling process. (SM)

A study of fourth-grade students with and without learning disabilities and their teachers examined students' strategic comprehension behavior and the instruction they received. Results found important differences in the way students perceive their comprehension instruction in the classroom and in the way teachers perceive how they implement…

Ten sixth-grade teachers and 60 students (14 with reading disabilities, 17 low-achieving students, and 29 typical students) participated in a four-month professional development and intervention program designed to enhance reading outcomes using word identification, fluency, and content area comprehension strategies. All three groups improved in…