A study examined one SAIL (Students Achieving Independent Learning) teacher's development of instructional practices from a reading strategies instructor who promoted some group discussion to an experienced transactional strategies teacher. The teacher taught the same story for three consecutive years to three comparable groups of low-achieving…

This practicum was designed to provide low-achieving first graders with the opportunity to improve their concept of what a word is and motivate children to become more enthusiastic about the reading process. Cooperative learning, cross-age tutoring, and skill-oriented instruction were utilized in the classroom during the 3-month period to…

A study tested the effects of an approach for improving reading fluency on the general reading and fluency development of second-grade students in regular classrooms. Subjects were from two elementary schools in a large, urban, ethnically diverse school district. There were 30 students in 2 classrooms in a school located in a working class…

Intended for parents, this illustrated booklet shares ways of helping children read that parents and teachers around the United States have found to work best. It focuses on helping parents create a supportive, pressure-free environment where reading at home is an enjoyable time, and where books are valued and reading is recognized as a vital…

This booklet summarizes the activities of Reading Recovery programs in North America for the period 1984 to 1993. The first section of the booklet provides an overview of the program, presents a typical Reading Recovery lesson, and discusses professional staff development in Reading Recovery. The second section considers whether Reading Recovery…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of the first two years of the Reading Recovery program at the McAllen Independent School District, Texas. Thirteen campuses participated in the first year (1991-92) while 16 campuses participated in 1993. In addition, the Literacy Program, designed to expand the positive effects of Reading Recovery strategies in…

A program was developed for improving the reading of first-grade students in a progressive suburban community in northern Illinois. The problem was originally noted by an increase in the need for support services and low standardized test scores. Analysis of probable cause data revealed that students lacked knowledge of the relationship between…

A study examined the effects of controlled language ("primerese") on children's reading. Four primerese stories from basal readers were rewritten to make the language less controlled and more natural, and the effects of these changes on several aspects of oral reading and comprehension were examined. Sixty first graders were divided into…

A study sought to replicate and extend previous research which found that an emphasis on meaning in reading leads to better recall of lesson material than does an emphasis on accurate oral reading, and that the child who is taking an active turn recalls more of the lesson material than do the children who are following along. Six third-grade…

This research report documents the development of the Reading Recovery Program in the United States from its inception in 1984. The report provides summaries of the various empirical studies that have been conducted. The report concludes that: (1) evidence from the first years of implementation indicates that Reading Recovery has had positive…

A study on children's recall of words presented on a computer was assessed as a function of action and verbal labels. Subjects, 80 public school children in a southeastern city, equally distributed between kindergarten and second grade and between high and low reading ability levels, interacted with different versions of a computer presentation.…

In order to see if an extended-day kindergarten program has a greater effect than a half-day kindergarten program on reading achievement in the first-grade, a study compared standardized test scores of two different groups of first-grade students. Subjects, a group of 44 students who had participated in a half-day kindergarten program and a second…

To determine the effects of active student-initiated response lessons as an alternative to teacher-directed strategies for increasing reading comprehension, third grade children were placed into either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group received a series of lessons based on active student-initiated responses. These included…

Designed to give parents an overview of reading and some suggestions on how they can help their children, this guide has been used in parent classes and workshops throughout Illinois since 1976. The nine sections of the guide cover the following areas: a general definition of reading, some causes of reading difficulty, various techniques used in…

From 1971 through 1973, a federally-supported project, Project Upswing, tried to help children with minimal learning difficulties to function better and more independently in school. Upswing was conducted by a volunteer staff from the local university schools of education and the public school system. Half of the children were tutored and half…