Presents the theoretical framework for examining texts in educational contexts. An actual reading lesson is analyzed in terms of the text structure and content, the nature of student-teacher interaction with the text, and post-reading discussion of the text. Tables outline the text structure and contrast teacher manual recommendations to actual…

Compares the reading performance of first grade readers of low, middle, and high abilities trained in listen-read, listen-alone, or read-alone procedures. Concludes that the listen-read procedure is an effective technique for low and middle ability readers in facilitating word recognition and reading comprehension. (RS)

Evaluates six major Spanish basal reading programs published since 1980 for Hispanic-American students. Concludes that these translated materials reflect a mechanistic part-to-whole view of reading and ignore current theories of reading as a meaning-seeking process. Contains 39 references and 23 sources of Spanish language materials. (SV)

Examines how the organization and content of basal reading programs may influence reading instruction. Concludes that: (1) basal programs differ in organizational complexity; (2) they differ in influence on the assignment and reading of material; (3) they emphasize skills; and (4) instructors rely on basal teaching guides to differing degrees. (RS)

Examines the effect of contrived instructional texts and naturally occurring texts (content area textbooks) on students' main idea comprehension. Concludes that students taught to identify the main idea using only contrived texts, such as basal skills lessons, will have difficulty transferring their main idea skills to naturally occurring texts.…

Evaluation for acceptability and utility of 5 common reading methods and materials by 32 middle school students with learning disabilities found the basal reader approach preferred over the other methods (language experience, direct instruction, multisensory, and neurological impress) which were all rated equally. (Author/DB)

Determined that emergent literacy activities that experts identified as appropriate to instructional materials were not prominent in basal text materials. Found small differences between meaning- and decoding-oriented material in literary quality, letter-sound correspondence, and word identification. (BC)

This article discusses ways to teach low vision students to read braille, including both parallel instruction (the student learns to read print and braille simultaneously) and nonparallel instruction (the print-reading student learns braille). The following approaches are briefly described: basal reader, language experience, whole language,…

This study examined the construct validity of curriculum-based measures of oral reading fluency from basal reading programs. Twelve special education students (grades 2-5) were monitored for oral fluency using 2 reading curricula (their instructional curriculum and the mainstream reading curriculum) throughout the academic year. Performance…

In the research paper considered, Stahl and Miller compare the effectiveness of whole language/language experience programs versus basal reader approaches. The article is criticized for its lack of longitudinal data, alternative interpretations, and information concerning the broad goals of whole language approaches. (TJH)

The effectiveness of whole language/language experience programs versus basal reader approaches is considered. The politicization of whole language teaching and the use of the nonbasal approaches in kindergarten versus first grade are the focal themes. (TJH)

A practicum aimed to reduce overreliance on the basal reading program in grade 1 of the elementary school. It also endeavored to provide teachers with quality choices to enhance and enrich their reading/writing programs. Five workshops were designed to meet the specific needs of a public school district located on the northeastern seaboard which…

To investigate the higher level comprehension strategies used by children reading basal reader stories, a study compared the results of an earlier investigation of 50 fourth grade level readers' comprehension strategies with findings gained from 30 subjects using a sixth grade basal reader. Subjects were asked to read aloud from a basal and stop…

A study examined two 1989 basal reading series' (published by McGraw Hill and Holt) readiness/priming sequences in order to ascertain the theoretical bases of each and then compared the findings with those of an earlier study. All pages of the readiness/priming sequence student texts and workbooks of both basal reading series were analyzed using…

The problems arising from treating word and sentence complexity as the direct causes of difficulty in comprehension are surveyed in this paper from the perspective of readability formulas. The basic choices and assumptions made in the development and use of readability formulas are discussed in relation to the larger question of text…