There are a plethora of ways which may be used to ascertain learner achievement in reading. This paper discusses such procedures. Comprehensive teacher observation of reading, using quality criteria, can be an excellent approach to assess reading progress. Selected criteria are discussed. Six categories of word recognition skills are important.…

This paper states that today's newspaper and educational journal articles complain that only half the school population can read on grade level. Yet standardized tests are written to spread pupils out from the first to the 99th percentile, or from three or more standard deviations above to three or more standard deviations below the mean.…

This paper explores what a reading teacher might do to guide students to achieve and be successful in reading. The paper first points out that there are selected programs of reading instruction which are individualized for optimal student success, and then discusses some of these programs, such as: individualized reading; the experience chart;…

Explores numerous procedures to evaluate a pupil's reading achievement. Discusses different evaluation methods including criterion-referenced tests; contextualism in reading; discussions in the reading curriculum; conferences with pupils; and using portfolios. Concludes that the best objectives, learning opportunities, appraisal procedures, and an…

Discusses debates in society on needs in education, particularly reading achievement of students and the needs of teachers. Considers the issues of whole language versus phonics instruction and sequencing student learning in reading instruction. Concludes that these and other issues, such as technology use in reading instruction, need to be…

Reading teachers and specialists have a difficult task in determining which components need to be emphasized in a quality reading program. Vital goals need to be achieved, experiences and activities must capture learner interest, and sequence in learning and organization of subject matter must guide student integration of knowledge. The scope of…

In a public hearing to decide which plan of reading instruction should be emphasized in a school district, six university professors with expertise in reading took turns presenting their philosophies and plans of reading instruction. Professor A was a strong advocate of a thorough program of phonics instruction for primary grades pupils in…

Although many educators have stated that children from low socioeconomic homes do not have the opportunities to learn as much compared to those of higher income levels, government officials do not accept that argument. They say that all should achieve the proficiency level in reading. This paper outlines the following ways the reading gap might be…

As students progress through the different grade levels, reading across the curriculum needs to be emphasized because it provides opportunities for students to practice reading in each academic discipline. Becoming a good reader is a curriculum "must." On the kindergarten level, experience charts may be used as an early means of teaching…

Reading as a skill permeates all curriculum areas--literature, social studies, science, mathematics, health, music, art, and physical education to some extent. Teachers should do much oral reading to young learners in particular. Pupils need to experience a wide variety of trade books at a reading center, while basal readers provide a quality…

Efficacy and its effects upon student achievement need nourishment. For a student to believe that he/she can and therefore does achieve needs fostering continuously within each student in the curriculum. With the tremendous emphasis being placed on reading instruction and student achievement by legislators and governors of individual states,…

For student success in reading achievement, recognition needs must be met--each person desires to be recognized for things well done and for improvement over previous performances. This paper discusses how this can be done in the teaching of reading. The paper first enumerates and reports on selected past methods of reading instruction: initial…

The reading teacher needs to determine what each pupil needs to be a successful reader. In collaborative reading, the teacher guides the pupil to read, cooperatively, content that is stimulating yet predictable, consisting of rhymes, refrains, and poems. Most children like to read orally and reading together with others hurdles difficulties in…

Currently, many states are providing inservice education for teachers so that higher student test scores result. State mandated objectives are available to teachers for study and used as benchmarks for teaching. The local reading curriculum then needs to be aligned with these objectives of instruction. The major objective of inservice education is…

Since regular teachers miss on average 8 days of work each year due to illness, there is a need to have well trained substitute teachers for the public schools. The substitute teacher needs inservice education programs which prepare him/her to do a quality job of teaching students. The following are essential reading skills to develop within…