Presents a case study in which one 9-year-old nonreader of English at a private school made progress in a 6-month remedial reading program. Describes strategies that may help other primary school teachers of English as a second language. Describes the process of instruction and highlights the implications of the findings. (SG)

Compares the reading achievement of second graders who were taught with a direct instruction program to second graders who were taught with a basal reading program in three areas: vocabulary, comprehension, and language. Finds Direct Instruction was more successful than the basal reading program. (NH)

Background: It is widely recognized that effective interventions for poor reading involve training in phoneme awareness and letter-sound knowledge, linked in the context of reading books. From the applied perspective, it is important to gather data on the effectiveness of different forms of implementation of literacy support within this framework.…

A study examined the effectiveness of Reading Recovery programs at 36 Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS). Annually, approximately 500 "below grade level" students are given the opportunity to become independent readers through this program. Major findings are: (1) Reading Recovery students significantly outperformed students not in…

An action research project described a program for improving reading skills and comprehension through the use of parental involvement. The targeted population consisted of primary students located at four different sites in Northern Illinois. The problem of low reading achievement was documented through data revealing a large number of students…

A course of study to enhance the effectiveness of the traditional third grade reader and workpack as instructional tools was designed for this practicum. The goal was to create a familiarity with the purpose and function of varied print media available within the community, thereby creating a foundation upon which the students (30 third graders)…

Presents research indicating that peer tutoring resulted in reading achievement gains for both the tutors and tutees, but tests of self concept gains were not significant. (RB)

Suggests 10 classroom-tested activities that improve reading comprehension. (DF)

Describes two aspects of reading theory: a reader's background knowledge and the organization of text events and ideas. Illustrates how these aspects were applied to instructional design and discusses the results of this application. Includes recommendations on how to apply background knowledge and to create more comprehensible texts. (RDN)

A school district located in the southern region of the United States is implementing the Reading Recovery (RR) Program in 10 elementary schools. The RR program is an initiative to help elementary schools improve student learning, especially in the area of reading. A broad literature review framed this quantitative investigation. The overall…

This study described a sequence of steps that led to the increase of reading and listening comprehension. The targeted population consisted of kindergarten and first grade students in a rural community located in the Midwest. The problems of reading comprehension were documented through data collected by standardized test scores. The gain of…

Beginning with a series of interactive exercises, this book leads readers through the thinking processes and linguistic systems that students use to build their understanding of text. Through a review of these systems, the book then shows how to assess students' reading ability. It then presents an easy-to-use, step-by-step diagnostic procedure,…

This pamphlet describes 8 key elements established to guide the Texas Reading Initiative, whose goal is that all students will read on grade level or above by the end of grade 3. The elements discussed in the pamphlet are: (1) increase awareness of students' reading skill levels in kindergarten through grade 3; (2) promote reading programs as…

The purpose of this study was to determine if third-grade students could learn vocabulary incidentally through silent reading and by listening to stories read aloud as well as which method would produce the greater gain. Students listened to and read silently a total of 16 stories over the course of 8 weeks. Pretest and posttest scores on multiple…

This practicum program was developed and implemented to increase the reading comprehension of second grade students. The objectives of the program were for students to improve the ability to use context clues by 20%, improve reading comprehension by 15%, identify the 4 types of QAR (Question Answer Relationship) questions by 80%, and write…