The purpose of this longitudinal study was to explore the impact of a direct reading instruction program, "Reading Mastery (RM)," on literacy performance of students over a five-year period. Initially, 700 students in grades K-3 were randomly selected from six elementary schools to participate in the study; an additional 100…

Less is known about how children read connected text in silent reading, and the range of reading strategies used in an ordinary primary school classroom, than about the reading of single words, oral reading and reading by skilled adults. This paper describes and evaluates a method of testing children's silent reading in which they are their own…