Excerpts from "On Learning to Read: The Child's Fascination with Meaning," by Bruno Bettelheim and Karen Zelan, emphasize the importance of meaning in teaching a child to read. Six reading specialists comment on the book and on teachers' problems in teaching children to read. (MLF)

Compares juvenile magazines and basal readers published in the 1960s with those published recently and concludes that the values exhibited in the publications are remarkably similar for the two time periods. Lists the values stressed in the publications. (FL)

A comparison of comprehension questions in teachers' manuals for two meaning-based basal series with two decoding-based linguistic/phonic series found that individual series types maintained their philosophical integrity in their approaches to questions. (FL)

Products evaluated in this column are two readiness kits: Readiness Steps (Houghton Mifflin) and Experiences in Reading Readiness (Milton Bradley) plus three text series for the full elementary grade span: Pathfinders (Allyn and Bacon); American Book Reading Program (American Book Company); and Young America Basic Series (Rand McNally). (SJL)

Criticizes the lack of good literature in popular basal series and advocates the reading of good fiction as vital to producing an active, responsive reader. (MKM)

Examines the extent and direction of curriculum bias in standardized reading achievement tests by comparing the relative overlap in the contents of five separate reading achievement tests with the content of seven commercial reading series. (HOD)

Examines the legal reasoning behind the Yoder and Mozert court cases, which objected to mandatory secondary education and to a required reading series, respectively, discussing why one was granted and the other rejected; asserting that the two cases are essentially similar, turning on the notion of mere exposure as harm; and discussing how the…

Reviews sex equity in basal reading textbooks. Finds disturbing results when a 1993 study of characters in basals was compared with earlier (1960s-1980s) studies--limited progress has been made in correcting biases toward male characters. Finds that male characters continue to dominate in required reading instructional materials and also outnumber…

Describes in detail the nature and degree of picture dependence in first grade basal texts and examines its effects on children's reading. The existence of picture dependence appears to be an unintended consequence of vocabulary-control constraints. It is argued that picture-dependent text does not assist reading acquisition and may hinder it. (JD)

Answers questions from two teachers who are apprehensive about practices concerning basal reading instruction which they are asked to implement in their schools. (MG)

The purpose of this study was to determine if the DISTAR Reading I Program was more effective than a basal reading program in increasing school-based language ability for 80 first-grade Black students. (Author/IAH)

Examines the effect of key concept mapping strategies on reading comprehension and writing performance of fifth grade students using basal reading materials. Concludes that key concept mapping enhances comprehension of factual/informative text, but has no effect on written composition. Finds that literary mapping strategies enhanced neither…

Compares direct, explicit teaching of reading comprehension and current metaphor theory with the traditional approach to metaphor instruction found in basal readers. Finds statistically significant differences in favor of direct instruction of metaphor. (RS)

The article examines reading programs in use in Birmingham (United Kingdom) schools to evaluate their appropriateness in instructing partially sighted students in integrated settings. Suggestions are made for general appearance, contrast, paper type, type size and style, spacing, line length, readability, and vocabulary. (DB)

Reviews research on the portrayal of the elderly in United States print media. Finds that children are learning subtle stereotypes of the elderly. Offers recommendations to editors, publishers, writers, illustrators, and teachers to help children develop more realistic attitudes toward both the elderly and the aging process. (RS)