This report describes a program for improving the development of students' reading skills. The targeted population consisted of students in kindergarten, first, and second grades. The classrooms were located in adjoining lower socioeconomic areas. The problem of poorly developed reading skills was documented through data collected by the teacher…

An action research project stresses the need to incorporate various methods of teaching to develop a firm reading foundation. Self-esteem also plays a crucial role in developing enthusiasm to learn. The targeted population consisted of first and second grade students in clustered classrooms in a growing, middle class community located in central…

Discipline records and reading test scores revealed that students in the Redding Middle School (Middletown, Delaware) were achieving low reading scores while the number of discipline referrals remained high. This report of a practicum project shows how the school's teachers and administrators succeeded in changing the direction of this trend,…

The applicability of phonics generalizations, particularly the rule "When two vowels go walking the first one does the talking and the second one is silent," is examined in this paper. The first section reports on a study of the applicability of the two vowel rule to words in first- and second-grade basal readers and on a core vocabulary list; the…

The effects of a language-based reading approach on the reading strategies of first grade children were examined in a study involving a total of 40 children. Half of the students were placed in an experimental group that was exposed to the language-based reading approach, and half were placed in a control group that was taught to read by a…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the Distar reading program on the reading achievement of fifth-grade students in three schools on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Distar programs were developed to help overcome some of the problems of disadvantaged children. The program is a highly structured one, designed to…

The focus of this study is on the possible effects of phonological interference on the reading achievement of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican first graders. Specifically, the study explored the relationship between standard English auditory discrimination and first-grade reading achievement. Subjects for the study were 32 female and 20 male students…

This study described a program designed to increase student reading comprehension in order to improve academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of third and eighth grade students in two schools located in Northern Illinois. Evidence for the existence of the problem included scores from the Stanford Test, low academic performance on…

This study describes a program designed to increase student achievement in reading. The targeted population consisted of first and fourth grade elementary students in a Midwest community. Evidence for the existence of the problem included standardized tests and alternative assessments to measure reading achievement, and teacher observations with…

This report describes a program for improving reading fluency in the classroom. The researchers worked with their students to increase their word recognition rate and accuracy within a text. The emphasis was on their ability to appropriately and consistently model reading with expression and intonation. The targeted population consisted of first…

This action research project sought to increase parental involvement to improve academic achievement in the subjects of reading and math for fourth- through sixth-grade students in two Midwestern metropolitan schools. An increased number of non-English speaking parents and working parents, a lack of parent training, and teacher resistance to…

This report describes a program for using graphic organizers to enhance reading comprehension in the content areas. The targeted population consisted of middle school students in regular education classes at four different locations in a large metropolitan area. Graphic organizers will aid visually/spatially talented students as well as…

A program was designed to improve the reading achievement of second grade students in a rural Georgia school. An analysis of the problem indicated that: a higher percentage of second grade students from low socioeconomic conditions scored lower on standardized reading achievement tests than other second grade students; students who scored lower…

In order to examine factors associated with success in reading, reading teachers in four middle schools identified low-income black students in grades six, seven, and eight who met specified criteria for success or failure in reading. Results from a series of affective tests indicated that significant relationships existed between low-income black…

A program was developed and implemented to improve the reading achievement of 56 learning-disabled (LD) students in grades five through eight in a rural school district in South Carolina. Only 12% of the students were meeting the state standard in reading. Baseline test data indicated that reading achievement was from two to six grade levels below…