At-risk students and their nondisabled peers profit from opportunities to make choices about their literacy learning. While not a panacea, experiencing self-determination in school empowers students in ways that will last a lifetime. Literacy educators can encourage a positive momentum in this direction by demonstrating how to select reading…

The school library is very important in developing a quality reading program. The library books and other reading materials need to be varied and on various levels of reading complexity so that students can read meaningfully without facing failure in word recognition and comprehension of ideas. This paper discusses school libraries and their…

A measure was developed to assess kindergarten children's interest in reading, and information about their home and school environments was collected. High-reading-interest children were read to more frequently, watched less television, and had more books at home. School factors are also discussed. (Author/PP)

Teachers must make changes in their reading programs that reflect a desire for students to compose lives in which reading matters. Strategies presented include getting serious about independent reading, building a literate environment, making every child bookish, setting up reading partnerships, and ideas for home-school reading support. (SM)

Examined book choices of below-average, average, and above-average readers in a fourth-grade literature-based reading program. Found that book selection criteria were mentioned at different frequencies with below-average readers, whose criteria included pictures and friends' recommendations. Word length, print size, and book length influenced…

A longitudinal study of 363 elementary school students over five years investigated the degree to which reading comprehension, vocabulary, reading pleasure, and reading frequency later in life can be predicted and the way that path models and common factor models explain these relationships. Linkages among these factors are explored. (SLD)

This study investigated the reading styles of 57 students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Special attention was given to the independent variables gender, grade level, and at-risk status. A total of 224 comparisons were made from which 8 main effects were observed: (1) females reported greater preference for music while reading than males; (2) special…

To the traditional arguments for teaching children to read can be added the contemporary idea that literacy is a tool, the necessary skill for full participation in society, and the ticket to social mobility and success. New reasons for reading books have emerged from recent gains in the understanding of the comprehension process and the nature of…

It is difficult to single out a primary factor leading to the establishment of one's attitude toward reading, but environment, particularly the home, probably provides the greatest influence. Because teachers influence students, they have the potential for influencing students' attitudes toward reading. Whether teachers are seen as readers or…

A study was conducted to determine the attitudes of teachers and students toward a program of uninterrupted sustained silent reading (USSR) operating in their school. The 14 teachers and 136 students in grades three through six were questioned about their attitudes toward the program. Teachers were also asked for opinions about USSR's effect on…

This study examined the influences of the home on children's attitudes toward reading, perceptions of reading, reading habits, and reading achievement. Participating in the study were 38 low-income white children (and their parents) from nine first-grade classrooms involved in the Florida Parent Education Follow Through project. Data were obtained…

Eighty-one fifth grade students from a suburban parochial school were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups in a study designed to determine the effect of daily sustained silent reading (SSR) on student reading habits and attitudes toward reading. One teacher supervised 40 students in daily fifteen-minute periods of SSR, using…

An attitude profile of fifth-grade school children on reading versus television watching was prepared, which also collected data on the physical access to books and television sets. Using a questionnaire, the data from 124 responses were compared with the body of existing research findings. It was found that most of the television watching time is…

This brochure is intended to help parents support their children in reading comprehension and fluency. The brochure is divided into seven main sections. The first section addresses preparation that good readers engage in before reading the materials, including: (1) previewing the text; (2) thinking about the topic; (3) setting a purpose for…

Argues that three specific areas of influence contribute to shaping the attitudes and expectations of adolescent reading in Britain: family; friendship groups; and school peer groups. Responses from 255 children reveal marked patterns of gender difference in the reading experience and identify the school curriculum's role in promoting particular…