The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) scores in kindergarten (MRTK) and grade one (MRT1) with the reading scores of the Canadian Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) at the end of grades one (CTBSR1) and two (CTBSR2). A secondary purpose of the study was to determine whether the…

An ESEA Title III language development program, originating in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, is presented in 60 twenty-minute lessons to help prepare preschoolers for the reading experience. Four areas of language usage and reading readiness are stressed--auditory discrimination or phonology, letter discrimination, stylistics, and morphology,…

A total of 211 kindergarten children, aged 63 to 81 months, were classified into two groups according to the risk of failure in first grade predicted for them on the basis of their performance on the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) and the Draw a Person (DAP) test. According to prediction, Group I children without intervention would probably…

School children (N=218) who have not yet attained moderate reading fluency were tested for their awareness of a fundamental relationship between our writing system and speech: that the sounds of speech are represented in writing. Children were shown a long and short word written on a card (e.g., mow and motorcycle), and asked which word…

An individualized, nongraded Title III/ESEA reading program to be used with children at kindergarten through third-grade levels has been developed at Moreland School in Moreland, Idaho. Using team teaching and individual and small group instruction, the program seeks to develop in the child prereading experiences, language experiences, expanded…

Argues that structured reading programs, workbook pages, and drills do not alone provide an adequate basis for beginning reading instruction and suggests that experiences, knowledge, and other environmental factors ensure success in reading. (HOD)

Research indicates a strong relationship between early phoneme awareness and later reading success and the benefits of explicitly teaching phoneme awareness skills. This article presents a set of developmental phoneme awareness training activities that the special educator can integrate collaboratively into existing kindergarten and first-grade…

A nationwide survey was conducted to determine what skills and knowledge kindergarten teachers consider important for preschoolers to have upon entering kindergarten. A sample of 400 randomly selected school districts were invited to contribute kindergarten readiness guidelines and report cards; 78 schools and school districts from the United…

This evaluation deals with the Strengthening Early Childhood program in District 1 of Manhattan, funded under Title I of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act. The program provides the kindergartens, first, and second grades of the 13 participant schools with teaching and educational assistant positions and with a small amount of materials.…

This teacher's guide to Spanish language at the kindergarten level includes a recommended subject presentation sequence for the Spanish curriculum, a sample schedule, a grouping of students using three stations, and a classroom layout. The grouping would be effective when at least one-third of the children are Spanish-speaking or bilingual. The…

This study analyzed the effects of a kindergarten phonological awareness training program, STeps Into Reading (STIR) on the number of special education referrals, classifications, and retentions in a rural elementary school in New York. These numbers were compared prior to and after the program's implementation. STIR is based on research in the…

A study investigated the effect of kindergarten class size on reading readiness achievement. Subjects, 2,837 kindergarten students in 38 elementary schools that serve rural, urban, suburban, and inner-city schools, participated in the first year of Project STAR (Student Teacher Academic Ratio) in 1985-86. The subjects' 140 kindergarten teachers…

Academic testing observed in a year-long study of kindergarten classes in 15 districts was primarily concerned with whether children were succeeding with the content of a basal reader readiness workbook that essentially dealt with phonics. Such success was viewed as a prerequisite for the first preprimer in the basal series, the use of which…

This report gives an interim evaluation for 1982-83 of the Kindergarten Reinforcement project in the Cleveland Public Schools. This project, designed to promote optimal development of disadvantaged children's basic learning skills relevant to subsequent successful school experiences, provides kindergarten teachers with supplementary instructional…

Kindergarten teachers should be concerned with the development of the child physically, psychologically, and socially. The development of readiness for reading should be part of the child's day-by-day activities in the kindergarten. Structured prereading activities should be conducted in informal, game-like ways. They should involve the active…