Thirty-eight mothers of kindergarten children identified for Chapter I compensatory education programs were trained in structured tutoring techniques. Compared to controls, children tutored by mothers demonstrated initial advantages in reading which later disappeared. Degree of parent participation is a variable that should be examined in research…

This report describes an action research project designed to improve reading skills of first grade students. The targeted population consisted of two elementary classrooms located in a small, rural Mid-Western town. The problem of difficulty memorizing reading vocabulary words was documented through parent and student surveys and a document…

The purpose of this study was designed to increase the reading abilities of students in the targeted first and third grade classes in two elementary schools located in the Midwest. The study involved an action research project highlighting the overall growth of the students' academic achievement through increased reading growth. The study was…

In traditional reading and CARE lessons (a curriculum used to help students learn to read and identify sounds), music is not played to enhance the learning environment. However, some studies have shown that when music is played during learning experiences there is more retention of the material. This research project compared the traditional…

A key premise of Reading Recovery is that early intervention in first grade is critical in long-term literacy achievement because the gap between lowest- and highest-achieving children is narrow in lower grades but widens in later elementary school. Reading Recovery closes this gap at the critical time in children's literacy learning before the…

Reading is the foundation for literacy and comprehension is the foundation for education. Many learning disabled students struggle to understand what they have read and many instructional approaches in small group settings focus on decoding rather than on comprehension. Employing a dual strategic approach to facilitate comprehension enables…

This report describes a program for enhancing the phonemic awareness and phonetic ability needed when decoding print and spelling. The targeted population consists of first grade students in a growing suburban community located in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. Evidence for the existence of this problem are documented through a letter…

Central in the discussion of school improvement is the belief, supported by research, that almost all students can learn to read and that much reading failure is preventable. For almost all students to become literate, even those who are challenging to teach, educators must apply their best understanding of effective professional development, such…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of the Hello Reader Scholastic Phonics program as an addition to an already rich, literature-based curriculum. Test data suggested that primary grade students were not developing phonetic skills sufficient to meet district expectations. This research was designed to…

Seven years of changes in a Practicum in Reading course has altered the responsibilities and accountabilities for preservice teachers tutoring in a public school. Changes, formative and summative assessment results for tutored children and implications for the program's future are discussed. A study examined whether the college literacy practicum…

Syntheses of reading research conducted by the National Research Council (1998) and more recently by the Congressionally-Commissioned National Reading Panel (2000) provide ample evidence of the skills, experience, and knowledge children need to become successful readers in an alphabetic writing system. This research makes clear that children must…

This report describes a program for improving phonemic awareness skills in kindergarten students. The targeted population consisted of kindergarten students in two elementary schools. The schools are located in the northern suburbs outside a large Midwestern city. The problem of poor phonemic awareness skills was documented with a parent survey, a…

According to this paper, a good reading teacher is able to analyze problems faced by students in reading and remediate that which is necessary. The paper stresses that the reading teacher needs to be a good observer of student reading habits to notice where to intervene to improve the skills and attitudes of the reader. It discusses diagnosis and…

A methodology for estimating descriptive statistics, specifically the mean and the variance, from a sample that is not normally drawn is described. The method involves breaking the sample down into subgroups and weighting the descriptive statistics associated with each subgroup by the proportion of the population that the subgroup represents. This…