A successful reading instruction program requires ample time for actual text reading; teacher-directed comprehension strategy instruction; opportunities for peer and collaborative learning; and time for discussing what has been read. To develop independent, motivated, lifelong readers, a substantial part of children's reading instructional time…

Compares the effectiveness of reading practice using computer software with practice using text-based materials in four community college developmental-reading classes. Indicates there was no significant difference in reading-gain scores between computer-assisted practice groups and text-based practice groups. Contains 13 references. (VWC)

This article describes how Baginton Fields School, a secondary phase schools for British pupils with severe, profound, and multiple learning difficulties, set out to provide a meaningful and functional English curriculum. The goals of the school, the content of the scheme, and the progress of the students are discussed. (Contains references.) (CR)

Abolishing direct-instruction and skill-practice opportunities could have serious consequences for special-needs learners. Teachers should provide explicit and focused, even isolated instruction as needed and integrate it into the larger literacy context. This means conducting ongoing assessments of each student's abilities, skills, and progress…

This article describes PHAST (for Phonological and Strategy Training), a research-based remedial reading program that focuses on the primary obstacles to word identification learning and independent decoding that most students with reading disabilities face and the steps necessary to help these children achieve independent reading skills.…

Presents a model of instruction to illustrate that helping students understand a text need not be at odds with engaging them in student-oriented transactions. Analyzes effects of giving lower-track students direct instruction in how experienced readers evaluate reliability of literary characters by examining the writing and discussions that the…

Presents a discussion by dedicated teachers (who were taking a university course for reading assessment and diagnosis) about students' problems with vocabulary words that impede successful reading comprehension. Discusses how the interactive process of developing the strategies pushed the teachers' imaginations and created a challenge for the…

This paper describes the development and initial validation of a Chinese reading motivation questionnaire (CRMQ) which was designed to assess Chinese students' reading motivation in Hong Kong. The development of the CRMQ consisted of two steps. In the first study, groups of items were constructed based on achievement motivation theories and…

This article presents the results of qualitative research into how middle school students experience school reading. Students from grades 4 through 8 from four different schools were asked individually to draw and then to talk about specific times of their choice when they were and were not engaged in learning. The combined method of drawing and…

The authors contend that the students, even those labeled "at risk" or "struggling," learn to read by reading--having time, opportunity, and support for active construction of meaning from text and reading books that are exciting, age-appropriate, enjoyable, and often self-chosen. Using examples from classrooms, the authors argue that assessing…

This study investigated the effectiveness of metacognitive strategies in teaching reading comprehension to five Chinese children with physical and multiple disabilities. Results suggested that metacognitive instructional strategies might be effective. Further research using various methods/designs on children of different ages and academic levels…

This contribution documents the strategies bi/plurilingual children spontaneously develop when confronted with a task that demands comprehension of texts in a third language. To illustrate these strategies in context, the paper draws from classroom interaction excerpts: small groups of children (ages 8-10) discover meaning in a text in a language…

This study offers an alternative to traditional notions of scaffolding for reading comprehension by tracing the evolution of a fifth-grade small group literature conversation in which the teacher sought to displace himself as "primary knower" (Berry, 1981) in the conversation. The study examines how the teacher shared evaluation with his…

A study evaluated the Chapter 1 Reading Skills Center program which provided supplementary, individualized instruction in reading and writing to 176 eligible students in grades four through eight from four nonpublic schools in New York City. Major goals were to enable students to develop competency in reading and to integrate reading skills into…

The Chapter 1 Developer/Demonstration Program: Learning To Read through the Arts (LTRTA) was developed to offer intensive reading instruction to eligible New York City students through the integration of a total reading program with a total arts program, from October 1984 to June 1985. Evaluation of the program showed the following: (1) that all…