Argues that schools and teachers underestimate the demands that particular texts place on readers, especially as students reach middle school. Describes how the author uses think-alouds as one particular technique to actively give contextualized strategic knowledge over to students. Shows how this helps readers overcome their struggles to develop…

Notes that a "staggering number" of struggling readers in the United States are African American children and other students of color. Outlines characteristics of successful schools for struggling readers, and details effective teaching techniques. Notes the importance of leadership, high expectations, culturally appropriate teaching…

Reading is an essential part of science literacy, yet teachers often face challenges in incorporating reading in science classrooms. In this article, the authors share how they brought reading back into their science classrooms. They designed four quarterly reading projects with yearlong literacy routines that they used successfully with their…

A program was designed and implemented to improve student vocabulary and comprehension. The target population consisted of 59 students in grades 1, 2, and 3 in a low-income area of a large city in central Illinois. The problems of lack of prior knowledge, poor vocabulary, and insufficient comprehension were documented through data collected from…

Children who have difficulty reading content materials are sometimes found to read fiction quite well. These children may not have the conceptual knowledge they need to relate the text material to their own lives. Children may experience difficulty reading content texts because they do not actively try to relate to and build knowledge from one…

Many adult poor readers do not organize what they read in a way that best facilitates good comprehension. To help students overcome this problem, the Adult Day and Evening School in Oakland, California, organized a reading laboratory for their mostly low-income, educationally disadvantaged students with a diverse range of needs. Instruction in the…

Higher Horizons (HH) 100 is a program providing groups of 100 underachieving secondary school students in Hartford, Connecticut, with an integrated program of academic, cultural, and counseling services designed to develop and improve their basic skills in language and mathematics, self-concept, and adjustment to school. The eight small cluster…

The report drawn from the second annual conference that was designed to provide professional dialogue for those concerned with the improvement of college reading programs, this volume contains the following papers: "Organization, Development, and Implementation of College Reading/Study Skills Programs: Some Assumptions and Conclusions" by Frank L.…

A follow-up study was conducted of summer school programs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which provided remedial instruction for 378 elementary school students two or more grade levels deficient in reading and/or mathematics achievement. Priority was given to Title I students. Major program elements included small teacher/pupil ratio; relaxed atmosphere;…

This is a report on the results of the Family Education Program, which is described as a demonstration and action program which incorporates parent education with an existing teacher training program to raise the achievement levels of intermediate students at Intermediate School (I.S.) 55, Brooklyn, New York. Methods and procedures of the program…

Six articles concerning college reading instruction are presented in this special interest journal. Chester Tillman and A. Garr Cranney offer informal guidelines for evaluating commercially produced reading improvement materials in terms of their purpose, educational and psychological factors which affect appropriateness for a class, cost, and…

This summary contains instructors' discussions of an independent research report which evaluated the compensatory education program at El Paso Community College, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Because of open admissions policies, many students enter this college without the prerequisite basic skills necessary to understand their texts. Over 75% of…

This yearbook contains addresses and discussion group reports from the fifth annual meeting of the Southwest Reading Conference for Colleges and Universities. Part 1 includes addresses which consider: definitions of reading, psychological explanations of reading, the sociology of reading, recent research in college reading, reading and semantics,…

This paper provides an overview of the Carbo Reading Styles Program (RSP), a comprehensive reading program that applies learning styles concepts to reading. The program uses themes, activities, and literature to help improve student performance across all subject areas. Main components of RSP include: a variety of instructional strategies to…

Defines the Scaffolding Reading Experience as a reading improvement technique that incorporates prereading, reading, and postreading activities. Discusses how this can be used in social studies classes and provides specific examples from an 11th-grade U.S. history class. Includes a list of optional activities and teaching suggestions. (MJP)