Investigated the effects of four writing experiences, grade, and reading level on elementary students' narrative writing. For 14 days, students wrote in response to 4 stimuli. Poststudy writing samples indicated students wrote in response to a common but different writing prompt. There were main effects for grade and reading level. (SM)

Compares results of a modified whole language approach (incorporating daily 15-minute total class phonics instruction) with those obtained from a popular basal approach. Finds that students in the whole language classes made greater gains in phonics, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and total reading achievement than students in the basal…

Results of this study supported the belief that whole language strategies and routines used in first grade classrooms will yield scores on traditional reading standardized achievement tests that are comparable or superior to those resulting from the use of basal reader programs. (Author/IAH)

Investigates the phenomenon of topic shift (sentences initiating a new topic are given additional processing time by skilled readers). Finds adults showed a proportionately greater effect than fifth graders when more difficult expository texts were used but not with easy narratives. Finds that paragraph marking did not influence the processing of…

Compared the grade level difficulty obtained from seven readability formulas to student reading levels from two national standardized tests to determine which formulas best determined the readability of computer-based text. Found that the Flesch-Kincaid, FOG, and ARI formulas provided the best estimate of reading grade level of computer-based text…

Trains good and poor third-grade readers to manipulate the phonological structure of words as a means of facilitating ability to name pictured objects. Finds that both groups benefited from training, even though good readers performed consistently better than poor readers. Suggests that more extensive training may help poor readers use their tacit…

Reports results of two experiments on fourth- through seventh-grade below-average readers' sensitivity to Basic Orthographic Syllabic Structure (BOSS) in visual word recognition. Suggests that children are sensitive to the BOSS parsing principle and that this could be used in promoting word knowledge. (RS)

Eighty-one kindergarten children at risk for reading disabilities were assigned to either code-emphasis or meaning-emphasis instruction for first and second grades. Children who received code instruction subsequently scored higher than the other group on reading and spelling measures. Critical instructional program elements are discussed.…

The hypothesis that reading instruction designed to incorporate students' preferred reading styles resulted in greater achievement gain when compared to controls was tested with 198 third and sixth graders. Results support the hypothesis that incorporating reading styles in reading instruction result in greater achievement gain. (SLD)

Examines the effects of computer assisted instruction (CAI) on the reading achievement of male and female first graders. Results indicated that statistically significant achievement gains were sex specific, with only males exhibiting a significant average increase when exposed to CAI. Implications of the findings are discussed. Contains 55…

Evaluates implementation of the "failure free" reading program. Adequate repetition, appropriate sentence structure, and meaningful story content are incorporated in directed instruction, talking software, and print materials. Improvements were noted in attitudes, curriculum-based performance, and standardized tests. (MMU)

A study compared reading-achievement level of 40 children with deafness who received the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implants between ages 2 and 13 with that of children with deafness without cochlear implants. Nearly one half of children with cochlear implants were reading at or within 8 months of grade level. (Author/CR)

Examines the development of reading skill during the first school year using preschool motivational orientation, coping tendencies, knowledge of alphabet, and phonemic awareness as predictors. Finds that preschool phonemic awareness and task orientation are associated with enhanced word-reading fluency. (DSK)

Chapters of this special issue focus on two studies of the relationship between students' attentive behavior and literacy achievement involving more than 8,000 Australian elementary school students. Findings from an intervention study and a longitudinal cohort study highlight the interdependence among student-level characteristics and influences…

Discusses the formulation of the Australian Literacy Benchmarks for Year 3 and Year 5. Suggests they (1) lay claim to designating a minimum standard; (2) represent "fuzzy" standards; and (3) are a composite based on a number of underlying criteria. Claims teachers' knowledge of student literacy achievement is a richer source of valid…