Presenting the story of how discussion became the foundation of a teacher's classroom practice, this book examines reading development in a group of second graders, observing classroom discussions and the transformation of a basal-reading curriculum into one which used literature-study groups. The book reports on close-up classroom observation as…

The study was undertaken to determine whether this particular melding of two independently successful programs, Project Read and Guided Reading, could complement each other as intervention strategies in helping at-risk students develop literacy skills. Subjects were 11 first-grade students identified as "at-risk" of learning to read by…

A study examined the implementation of the Indiana Early Literacy Intervention Grant Program during the 1997-98 school year, when the program funded a total of 133 projects and served 9,685 students in its first year. The study incorporated an analysis of existing databases, a systematic review of the research literature on reading interventions,…

An experimental study involving 32 second-grade poor readers found that students involved in dyad reading groups (buddy reading groups) made greater achievement gains on all reading outcomes (vocabulary and comprehension) than the matched control students. (IAH)

Presents a case study of the effectiveness of a combination of a family literacy home intervention program with one-on-one intense tutoring for nonreading families. Notes that the family began to make positive changes in their reading environment, attitudes, and interactions which had a positive effect on their child's reading progress at school.…

Provides independent analysis of the extant evaluations of Reading Recovery. Finds that students make greater than expected gains in reading, effects comparable to those accomplished by other effective educational interventions; and that programs are less effective in maintaining student gains and more costly than has been claimed. Offers…

Finds that children in a whole-class reading program significantly exceeded students' reading in a basal reader control group taught in ability groups. Shows that whole-class instruction effectively accommodated both at-risk and high ability students. (SR)

Reports on a longitudinal case study of a teacher's response to the miscues of substitution produced by two beginning readers. Categorizes the teacher responses into five main types, and explores the effectiveness of those responses. (SR)

Discusses a reading intervention program called Project Prevent that is based upon the principles of Reading Recovery. Describes the major elements of the program: screening and selection procedures, lesson components, transition, and posttesting. (MG)

Trains good and poor third-grade readers to manipulate the phonological structure of words as a means of facilitating ability to name pictured objects. Finds that both groups benefited from training, even though good readers performed consistently better than poor readers. Suggests that more extensive training may help poor readers use their tacit…

Examines the behaviors of children and their teachers across repeated readings of the same text across several Reading Recovery lessons. Finds increased monitoring, error detection, self-correction, and fluency. Finds that teacher interventions decreased and changed in substantive ways. (RS)

Examines the effects of computer assisted instruction (CAI) on the reading achievement of male and female first graders. Results indicated that statistically significant achievement gains were sex specific, with only males exhibiting a significant average increase when exposed to CAI. Implications of the findings are discussed. Contains 55…

Responds to an article in the April 1998 issue of this journal. Shares evidence about the effectiveness of peer tutoring. Discusses literacy tutoring of K-3 emergent readers by volunteers. Explains why tutoring is not teaching, and offers a model for successful tutoring practices. (SR)

Replies to an article in the same issue of this journal, which responded to this author's earlier article. Elaborates two fundamental points of disagreement (the definition of tutoring and the characteristics of the children being tutored). (SR)

Finds that at-risk first and second graders made statistically significant gains in instructional reading level that was attributable to tutoring by minimally trained America Reads Challenge college students. Finds that the greatest impact was in affecting children's ability to read words, and that most of their growth occurred during the second…