Concludes that potential users of the Clymer-Barrett Readiness Test should exercise caution in drawing inferences or conclusions about children on the basis of anything other than raw score data associated with the measure. (FL)

Early reading instruction is important for all children, but especially for the disadvantaged, because the decision not to expose them to reading at an early age may result in an unrecoverable loss of intellectual potential. Reading readiness as an approach may exile children from literacy permanently because it is an abstract and alien process…

Unfortunately for students, school reading has become an institution-- a powerful, organized machine that dooms the whole educational enterprise to mediocrity. This article presents 31 grievances against the present system and advocates replacing the vacuous, contrived subject called reading with the teaching of genuine subjects. (MLH)

Notes that research supports the idea that children are confused about concepts related to beginning reading instruction. Reports on assessment instruments that are commercially available or can be devised by teachers. (FL)

The need to teach precursors to literacy as part of preschool language therapy with language-disordered children is stressed. Assessment and intervention approaches include developing the child's ability to use language in instructional contexts and facilitating language awareness (such as word and phonological consciousness). (DB)

Outlines the story of one first-grade student's successful struggle with learning to read. (MD)

Reading readiness activities should lead to awareness and skills that will bring a child to a point on the reading acquisition continuum where he or she will be ready to benefit from more rigorous and formally structured activities in the classroom. Children's awareness of the following five aspects of language and literacy are helpful, if not…

Currently, an increasing number of states support school readiness programs, recognizing that high quality early childhood education positively affects all children's success in school and the quality of their future. Recent federal initiatives, including Good Start Grow Smart, the revised guidance for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)…

Describes several techniques that enable parents to prepare their preschool children for the actual process of learning how to read that they will encounter when they enter school. (FL)

Social development is an important and integral part of reading readiness; the reading teacher must be aware of the social skills needed for productive growth in reading and the techniques involved in developing them. (HOD)

Expresses a joint statement of concerns about present practices in pre-first grade reading instruction and makes recommendations for improvement. Guidelines and recommendations are the result of a collaboration among six national organizations. (KS)

A cognitive theory of readiness is offered as a possible explanation of the learning problems of learning or reading disabled secondary students. A discussion of the implications of the theory for secondary content area reading is included along with a model for implementation of the readiness components. For related information see EC 132…

Reviews six models of prereading programs for developmentally delayed adults: readinglike behavior, picture reading, global features of books, print in the environment, labeling, and rebus symbols. (SK)

A cognitive-developmental approach to reading instruction for preschool children is presented in this document. Common misunderstandings about reading instruction are discussed, and examples of young children's reading readiness are used to illustrate how developmental readiness, self-motivation, and the influence of an appropriate learning…

To answer the question of how phonemic awareness works to facilitate reading acquisition, this paper explores the fundamental connection between phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, and phonics in learning to read. The paper undertook a literature review to prove that phonemic awareness is an essential element in the path to literacy. It…