Questions pertaining to beginning reading, success, and failure are addressed. The issues of concern are: (1) When reading begins? (2) What preschool activities seem to help certain children succeed as readers? (3) What characteristics and conditions are associated with reading failure in first grade? (4) What early experiences might help children…

Focusing on the relationships between performance, skills, and attitudes, a study conducted at the University of Arizona measured the effects of reading and writing apprehension on basic writers. Results from three survey measures and expository paragraphs and essays written by 59 college freshmen enrolled in a basic writing course provided the…

Evidence concerning compensatory education programs (designed to overcome educational deficits associated with adverse environmental circumstances) and their impact was sought in a study that investigated the progress made by students in such programs for reading over a six-year span, from middle school and through high school. Data were obtained…

The responses to two questionnaires by the principals and 186 randomly selected teachers from 40 elementary schools from Hillsborough county (Florida) provided the data for a study that examined whether principals of schools demonstrating high and low levels of student reading achievement differed in leadership behavior and/or demographic…

To compare the progress of New York City children with those of other first graders across the country, as well as to establish baseline data for evaluations of early childhood programs and provide direction for second-grade reading instruction, a pilot study examined approximately 5,000 randomly selected first-grade students from monolingual…

A study examined whether students coming from low income families perform less well on achievement tests than do students in general. Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test scores of fourth grade students coming from low income, rural Michigan homes were compared to overall schoolwide and statewide average scores for the period…

Secondary school reading teachers are confronted with the goal of enticing adolescents to a lifelong appreciation of books. Unfortunately, teaching the "classics" of literature frequently entails stylistic enrichment and understanding of literary devices, something of a "bottom-up" approach, that turns many students away from…

A study compared the reading achievement over 3 years of a group of elementary school students taught to read by means of a single-basal system and one taught by means of a tri-basal system. Subjects were 34 current sixth grade students from a school that uses the Ginn "Reading 720" series, representing two or more grade levels, for all students…

A study examined the kindergarten placement decisions of elementary school principals and the extent to which the grouping patterns persisted into the first grade. Subjects, 555 nonpreschool attenders who were enrolled in kindergarten at 22 elementary schools, were randomly selected from each strata of low, medium, and high student eligibility for…

A program was designed to deal explicitly with "learned helplessness" and poor self-concept of six middle school students who were receiving special help in a reading resource room. The students completed an assignment and then reflected in a journal in narrative form on how well they felt they had completed the assignment. Students also…

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…

A study was conducted at Mott Community College to assess the effectiveness of developmental courses in preparing students to meet prerequisite reading skill requirements. Files for all 362 students who took a reading course in fall 1988 provided the data for the study. Study findings included the following: (1) 85% of the students completed the…

This report from the Ben Hill Elementary School in Atlanta (Georgia) provides information on student achievement for the 1986-87 school year. The narrative presents 11 findings concerning enrollment, attendance, reading achievement and math achievement. Conclusions and recommendations generated from these findings are the following: (1) on most…

In order to evaluate an experimental writing program involving word processors as tools, a study examined the use of cloze techniques as a method for indicating reading progress as it relates to writing. Subjects, 87 Canadian primary school children, were involved in a three-year longitudinal study of the effects of this experimental writing…

In order to provide a comprehensive view of the cumulative effect of the South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) on students' learning, a study examined reading and mathematics achievement by all students in the program over a 5-year period (1981-1985), as measured by the testing portion of the BSAP. Subjects were students in grades…