Students in the United States do not read well enough (Showers, Joyce, Scanlon, & Schnaubelt, 1998). While the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2003) reports an encouraging upswing in 8th-grade students' reading performance from 1992 to 2003, this fact does not stem the tide of practical concerns voiced by teachers and community…

Consisting of testimony and prepared materials presented to a joint session of House and Senate subcommittees, this report deals with the problem of illiteracy in the United States. The report contains statements from Richard C. Anderson, director of the Center for the Study of Reading; Samuel L. Banks, president of the Association for the Study…

The author proposes four steps to improve reading and writing skills instruction in secondary schools, in line with the call for a return to "basics" in the CBS television special "Is Anyone Out There Learning?" All articles in this journal issue comment on this television program. (SJL)

Reading specialists, as well as members of the general public, have long sought to understand why so many children in the United States read below grade level and why so many of its adult citizens are illiterate. While problems associated with reading are not unique to the United States, it is noteworthy that some nations do not experience major…

In the quest for engaging, effective literacy instruction, the author argues that elementary reading instruction should balance systematic skills instruction with rich children's literacy experiences and opportunities to learn how to read and write. He posits that engaging and effective primary grades classrooms are very positive places where…

This study examined, through classroom observations and teacher surveys, the instructional beliefs and practices in reading of second- and third-grade teachers in selected schools in the United States and Australia. Australian participants consisted of 16 second-grade and 11 third-grade teachers in New South Wales; American participants were 17…

This bulletin provides a statement showing in some detail the amount of illiteracy in the United States among men, women, and children over 10 years of age according to the Federal Census of 1910; also a brief statement of an experiment which has been conducted for nearly two years in one of the mountain counties of eastern Kentucky having a large…

Examines various explanations for the lack of reading problems in Japan, including the nature of the Japanese written language, the interest of Japanese parents in teaching young children to read, the different perceptual processes involved in reading Japanese, and the quantity of Japanese publications suitable for preschool children. (FL)

This article describes the application of experimental analysis methods for identifying reading fluency interventions for two elementary school students (fourth and fifth grade) referred for reading problems. For each student the experimental analyses examined use of rewards, instruction, and a treatment package containing both reward and…

Reports the results of a survey of 82 schools in South Australia and 40 schools in the United States concerning their use of paraprofessionals in their reading/tutoring programs. (FL)

The 2009 edition of the "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) third annual review of state laws, rules and regulations that govern the teaching profession. This year's report is a comprehensive analysis of the full range of each state's teacher policies, measured against a realistic…

A practical guide is presented to peer tutoring for teachers and others with an interest in promoting cooperative learning. It includes a guide to organizing peer tutoring, as well as a review of research on the effects of peer tutoring, and evidence for social and academic gains for the student and the tutor. The perspective is international,…

A study used a Functions of Reading Scale to explore the reading activities of students in grades three, five, and eight in Ireland and the United States. Results showed the patterns of relationships between the variables in the Scale to be consistent across cultures and grade levels. (FL)

Background: Integrating reading in foreign language (FL) classes is sometimes a difficult task because of lack of appropriate methodology and poor textbook support. In addition, college students find many readings too difficult to understand or not interesting. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how a teacher-researcher…

A primary goal of publicly funded adult education programs in the United States is to help adults increase their reading skills so their educational, vocational, and personal goals are more attainable. Adult education teachers are challenged with providing effective reading instruction for a diverse group of adults who have widely varying reading…