Case study of a poor, rural Pennsylvania school district's experience with the Reading First initiative illustrates how the No Child Left Behind Act confines districts to a few federally prescribed, "scientifically proven" curricula that ignore local conditions. Sanctioned schools are negatively labeled but receive inadequate funding,…

This book describes the conception, implementation, teaching, and evaluation of an experimental course in corrective phonetics for students enrolled in the Certificate in French as a Second Language (FLS) at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (Canada) during the winter and summer sessions of 1992. It also discusses the principles of a proposed…

A cross-curricular comparison focused on learner interpretations of beginning reading and writing instruction in skills-based and whole language inner-city classrooms across kindergarten and first grade. Subjects, 48 low socioeconomic-status students in four classrooms in two midwestern cities, were observed during literacy instruction twice…

This document examines the problem of illiteracy. The first chapter provides background and general information about illiteracy, while the second chapter distinguishes between "illiterate" and "functionally illiterate," and provides a new look at the concept of functionality. The third chapter begins with a section about illiteracy in the United…

Six weeks were spent working with a five-year-old kindergarten child who had an excellent understanding of sound/symbol relationships but did not know how to read for meaning. A variety of techniques was used to help the child develop reading strategies and increase confidence: directed reading-thinking activity in week one; student retelling of a…

The proceedings of the twelfth annual meeting of the College Reading Association (with a focus on "Reading: Today's Needs, Tomorrow's Challenges") consisted of the following papers: "President's Address" (J. R. Newton); "Structure, Stricture in Reading Programs" (M. J. Weiss); "Why Use Informal Reading…

A study examined the hypothesis that if young children are immersed in a social and psychological setting appropriate for language learning they can learn to write simply by writing. Placed in a supportive classroom environment, 24 first grade students were expected to communicate in writing in any way they could from their first day at school.…

The reading and listening program described in this Montgomery County, Maryland, curriculum guide is based on sets of instructional and performance objectives for each grade level from kindergarten to eighth grade. Within each grade level set, the guide organizes the objectives into major categories that represent important areas of instruction:…

This document describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a program aimed at increasing the level of achievement of first-grade students at the Edmund W. Flynn Model Elementary School. The diagnostic and placement procedure developed allowed for student placement in programs aimed at individual strength while providing remediation…

Certain literacy knowledge acquired prior to the initiation of beginning reading instruction is necessary for early reading success. Unfortunately, children from low- income families and who are likely to attend schools with low reading performance are less likely to have acquired such knowledge. Taking professionals and students step-by-step…

This report outlines the results from the Nebraska's Reading First initiative. Three thousand six hundred students from Kindergarten to Third grade were included in the project. Results indicated significant growth across all demographic groups. Student performance in the earlier grades has shown great promise for the following years. Growth in…

Effects of instruction in phonemic awareness during preschool and/or kindergarten on the metalinguistic development and subsequent reading achievement of young children with disabilities were investigated in this project. The main focus of study combined a longitudinal and experimental design in which 79 preschool children with disabilities…

This guide shows parents how to combine story reading, phonics, and writing to help their children develop into skilled and motivated readers. The guide discusses how to prepare children for reading success; how to use children's literature to promote learning and enjoyment; why combining book experiences and phonics is better than using either…

An action research project described a program for improving prerequisite reading skills. The targeted population included students in a special education kindergarten and an at-risk first grade from declining urban schools located in a medium sized Midwestern city; and students in an at-risk prekindergarten program from a nearby middle class…

Offers ideas for opening up new paths in literacy teaching in early childhood settings. Focuses on the role of phonics in everyday classroom instruction, working with dyslexic children, home reading programs, special concerns about boys' literacy, the impact of inequities in social status in the classroom on children's literacy opportunities, and…