Poverty most likely will always be a concern in the United States, particularly in at-risk populations of the public schools. Many students in poverty enter public schools behind in academic and social skills due to a lack of quality early learning experiences. Regular education teachers work diligently to catch these children up in vital skills;…

Despite recent efforts at compensatory education, thousands of children still go through first grade each year without learning to read. More often than not, these are children of the poor. The underlying assumption of this study is that the major attempt at educational compensation for disadvantaged children have failed because of fundamental…

This issue presents eight essays all on the theme of how young children can become strong and successful lifelong readers. "Seeking Common Ground" (Lee Sherman) reviews the debate over how best to teach young children to read. "In the Beginning" (Catherine Paglin) suggests that by reading aloud to young children and filling their world with print,…

The mother of a son with dyslexia documents her son's success in learning to read in a private school using the Orton-Gillingham approach and her efforts to bring that approach into the public schools of Delaware, through Project ASSIST (Alphabetic Sound Symbol Instruction Systematically Taught) and its volunteer tutors and teacher training.…