"The Electric Company" ("TEC") television show won the hearts of children because it made learning fun. Thirty years later, the iconic show has returned with the goal of not only teaching literacy, but also numeracy (the ability to work with and understand numbers) and mathematics vocabulary in a fun, entertaining, and engaging…

This report describes a pilot study conducted to evaluate the instructional effectiveness of the Steck-Vaughn Phonics Program: Level A-Units 3 and 4 and Level B-Units 2 and 3. The Educational Research Institute of America (ERIA) identified volunteer teachers to participate, designed the assessments, and analyzed the collected data. Because the…

Visual Phonics is an instructional program to provide print awareness, alphabet knowledge, and sound-letter correspondence for children with hearing loss who experience difficulty developing a foundation of phonemic awareness skills. Its purpose is "to clarify the sound symbol relationship between spoken English and print" (Waddy-Smith…

Argues that holistic, transactional views of the reading process have been uprooted and replaced with what has been labeled "balanced" instruction. Presents a brief outline of the California requirements for instruction incorporating phonics. Concludes by encouraging whole language teachers to stand together because their beliefs are…

Controversy rages over whole-language/phonics approaches to reading instruction, giving critics great school-bashing opportunities. Districts that have successfully incorporated whole language generally have planned for change, involved parents, proceeded slowly, built in ongoing professional development, provided adequate resources, reassured…

IN A THREE-STAGE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF THE PHONIC AND LOOK-SAY METHODS OF READING ON THE TRANSFER OF READING SKILLS, 60 KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO A LETTER GROUP, A WORD GROUP, AND A CONTROL GROUP. MATERIALS USED WERE SIX GRAPHEMES DESIGNED DIFFERENTLY FROM ENGLISH LETTERS AND ASSIGNED TO SIX SINGLE ENGLISH PHONEMES. DURING STAGE…

Distressed by media headlines trumpeting supposed "reading-and-writing wars," a reading education professor discusses his Delphi survey of 11 reading experts. Experts agreed that emphasizing only phonics instruction and drill-and-practice would make learning to read difficult. Reading would be facilitated by bringing together…

A survey of 117 California educators found that 90% believe there is a reading crisis; they identified multiple factors: teaching methods, lack of parental support, and high numbers of English-as-second-language learners; 60% felt they were inadequately prepared to teach reading. Those who rated their ability excellent or good believed in…

Describes the "sociological imagination," which suggests an ability to create possible reconstructions of larger social forces which affect peoples' lives, through a story about Muhammad Ali. Discusses the importance of stories and their role in society. Utilizes three more stories to address various issues in relation to literacy…

A study examined the construct and predictive validity of phonemic awareness to determine the strength of the relationship between phonemic segmentation and auditory abstraction and to determine which of the two measures provided the best prediction of word recognition ability. Data were gathered from 65 first-grade children from 2 public…

This collection reflects the stance that a truly balanced approach to reading instruction will focus not only on reading but on literacy; integrate language and literacy across disciplines; attend to reading, writing, and other skills and strategies in context; and reflect a coherent integration of as broad a research base as possible. Following a…

THE PROBLEM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE READING LEVEL OF A CHILD WHO HAS A SEVERE READING PROBLEM CAN BE RAISED BY USING AN INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEM CALLED "READING HABILITATION." THIS IS A SYSTEM OF UNISON READING IN WHICH THE STUDENT AND INSTRUCTOR READ ALOUD SIMULTANEOUSLY AT A RAPID RATE. THE METHOD IS AIMED AT…

The argument between advocates of the whole language approach and the phonics approach threatens to become so polarized and politicized that agreeing on a middle ground seems at times impossible, and the voices of reason and experience are drowned out. The debate erupted anew in California after alarming news stories about reading scores ranked…

Responding to a call to action by California's state leaders to make reading instruction in the early grades a top priority in the public schools, this booklet discusses California's new K-3 reading program. It begins with a discussion of what prompted this new focus on reading, and then discusses the four major elements of a balanced reading…

Notes the California's Reading Task Force's heavy emphasis on phonemic awareness (PA) evaluation and training. Argues that although evidence shows that phonemic awareness will emerge by simply reading, California's school libraries--ranked near last in the nation--would require a massive commitment to rise to the task. Argues (in an ironic tone)…