The goal of the High School Reading and Communication Skills Component of the Detroit school desegregation plan was to improve students' reading and communication skills. The program was an integral part of the English curriculum and employed instruction focused upon specific objectives at each grade level. Support services were provided in each…

Graduates of a master's degree program for training reading specialists responded to a questionnaire concerning need for and competence in 40 teaching skills. Self-report data differentiated the competency training group (CTG) graduates (1973) from the conventionally trained group (1970), with the CTG clearly superior in their self-estimates of…

This report examines the effectiveness of four different instructional models used to deliver compensatory education in 1985-86 in Seattle (Washington) by analyzing "sustained gains" in student achievement. A student's "sustained gain" is the reading or mathematics achievement test score gain between spring 1985 and spring…

Outlines how five cases of real children encountering serious reading difficulties were transformed into computer-simulated diagnostic case studies, called WebCases, to provide opportunities for graduate students in reading specialist courses to apply a diagnostic decision-making model in reading diagnostic assessment. Describes the effects on the…

This article describes a reading improvement program operating in elementary schools near Copenhagen. Students take an annual reading test. The classroom teacher and the reading specialist review class scores to identify special-needs students and to plan reading program changes. General reading progress has been improved by this method. (SJL)

Explains how reading specialists can enhance both diagnosis and instruction of students. Argues that students, teachers, team members, and parents benefit when reading specialists are a part of multidisciplinary teams. Outlines potential contributions of reading specialists and how such specialists can offer specific assistance. Provides…

A study was done to determine the 1988-90 sustained gains in reading or mathematics among students in grades two through five in Seattle (Washington). These students were not retained but given compensatory education for 1 of the 2 years through one of the following models: (1) a traditional "pull-out" approach in reading and/or…

As part of the work from the Content Area Reading Project (CARP), which focuses on inservice teacher education in content area reading, a study examined the effects of an inservice content area reading program that involved two three-hour workshops per month on the theory and practical application of teaching methods for content area reading…

Studies show that while most clinicians agree on seven critical reading activities--instant word recognition, word meanings, oral reading, silent reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and attention/motivation--they reveal little agreement on the diagnoses and suggestions for remediation of reading problems. The computer assisted…

Methods used to diagnose a seven-year old boy's reading problems illustrate the fact that reading assessments based upon a reader's strengths and a reader's understanding and control of the process will provide information which is more useful to teachers and parents than that provided by the numerical results of standardized tests. After Andrew,…

The state of Georgia not only assesses the generic teaching competencies that are necessary for all teachers seeking certification, but also administers 28 separate criterion referenced tests, each for a different content-specialty area. Among the most recent of these tests is the Reading Specialist Test, the development of which involved…

A cost effectiveness study by the Austin (Texas) Independent School District of its elementary compensatory reading programs, namely, the Chapter 1 Reading Improvement Program (Chapter 1 Regular) and Schoolwide Projects (SWP), found that the Schoolwide Projects cost two to three times as much to achieve the same gains in student achievement as did…

This study describes and analyzes the influence of an ideological conflict between a teacher education program and a school district upon one pre-service teacher's emerging identity as a teacher of literacy. Using poststructural feminism as the theoretical framework and a single case study analysis, the study illustrates how the discourse of the…