This article focuses on a concept that has rarely been studied in beginning reading research--a child's concept of word in text. Recent examinations of this phenomenon suggest that a child's ability to match spoken words to written words while reading--a concept of word in text--plays a pivotal role in early reading development. In this article,…

An extensive research base on beginning reading acquisition and reading difficulties, developed over the past few decades, has important implications for the teaching of reading. Unfortunately, much of this research does not appear to be reaching teachers, whose knowledge is essential for scientific findings about reading to benefit children. This…

The purpose of this article was to illuminate for early childhood teacher practitioners how guided reading, as a research-based approach to reading instruction, could address the challenges of early reading instruction. The early years are the focus for the prevention of reading difficulties and research conducted over the past two decades has…

This report chronicles the record of the Reading First program as a research-based approach to teaching children to read, from early successes as a strict program whose funding would be distributed to states and districts using reading curricula whose effectiveness had been validated by scientific study, to one of eased eligibility that permitted…

Educating parents through outreach and public library programs is essential if children are to be given a head start at reading. However, once they are enrolled in school, it is important that education staff use the resources at their disposal to expose children to a book-rich environment and have them engaged with books for the sheer fun of it.…

New brain research reveals that synapses, the connections between neurons, are twice as plentiful at 24 months as in adulthood. Reading to babies helps "wire in" those synapses so that babies get an early intellectual boost. This article discusses early reading for babies as it promotes early literacy. Sharing picture books is a wonderful way to…

The effective classroom reading instruction and early reading interventions is routinely misrepresented and exaggerated by the federal officials. Individual tutoring that produces on-level reading achievement is presented based on the misinterpretations of the research.

This article investigates the ways in which alphabetic print concepts govern a sense of natural and appropriate early reading development, and juxtaposes the concepts found in early literacy curriculum and assessment with hypertextual elements found in new forms of texts written for children. Using a theoretical approach that combines…

With the results of a forthcoming federal study of educational software still under wraps, questions are arising about how it has been conducted--particularly the government's decision not to disclose individual performance results for the 15 computerized curriculum packages being studied. The companies involved will receive results for their own…

Considers the need for family literacy programs and library involvement in such programs. National organizations and local library programs devoted to family literacy are described, and the California State Library's Families for Literacy Program, which provides funding for local library family literacy programs, is discussed. (MES)

This issue of "Focus On" provides an overview of several key early literacy components: phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge, concepts of print, oral language development, writing, family literacy, and reading aloud. Suggestions for assessing early literacy development are provided, and examples of implementation of effective early literacy…

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This brief reports on the study "Mother-Child Bookreading in Low-Income Families: Correlates and Outcomes during the First Three Years of Life" (H. Raikes, B. A. Pan, G. Luze, C. S. Tamis-LeMonda, J. Brooks-Gunn, J. Constantine, L. B.…

This publication tells the stories of eight schools from around the nation that have used the Open Court Reading program, describing the history of the schools, the challenges they faced, and their attempts to meet those challenges. The schools are located in California, Florida, Texas, and New York. Each of the school stories includes a focus on…

In this article, Michael Pressley, Nell Duke, and Erica Boling call for a second generation of scientifically based reading instruction that goes beyond the evidence currently informing public policy. The authors argue that the federal government's position on what constitutes "scientific research" embraces only a narrow range of potentially…

As the pressure grows for students to learn and know more, so grows the demand on schools to raise achievement. It is a huge challenge for the country---and for the schools in which teachers work. The public appetite for dramatic solutions is substantial. That appetite is being fed by a stream of unproven reform proposals that will do tremendous…