Questions pertaining to beginning reading, success, and failure are addressed. The issues of concern are: (1) When reading begins? (2) What preschool activities seem to help certain children succeed as readers? (3) What characteristics and conditions are associated with reading failure in first grade? (4) What early experiences might help children…

Reading failure can be eliminated by the year 2000 if reading teachers believe it can be done, can develop the new procedures needed to make their dreams come true, and are willing to make fundamental changes in how they teach reading. Phonic utility research clearly indicates that phonics instruction is neither dependable nor useful. The current…

The theory that reading is a perceptual process was tested in a study involving 216 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The significance of the relationship between performance on a standard reading test and on an apparatus designed to test visual/motor perception was assessed. An analysis of the data revealed that there was no relationship between…

In this paper the author examines the more commonly accepted causes of failure in reading and argues that all of them are related to and explained by two major problems: the lack of proficiency in the spoken language and traditional orthography, the medium in which reading is most commonly taught. Each of the factors generally accepted as…

After consideration of difficulties and shortcomings in the field of research in reading retardation, the evidence about specific factors contributing to reading achievement is reviewed. Factors considered include intelligence and patterns of scores on intelligence subscales, processing of verbal and auditory stimuli, and personality…

This longitudinal study compared two predictors of reading performance: behavior rating scales and psychometric tests. Two groups of 888 and 844 middle-class kindergarten children were studied through Grade 3. Classroom and school environment were also considered. (Author/GDC)

Describes a reworking of a Title 1 program in Lake Forest, Delaware schools, to eliminate first grade retention due to substandard level of reading ability. The process included: (1) making reading fun; (2) new reading material; (3) parental participation; (4) scheduled reading time; (5) reading requirements; and (6) teachers' aides in classrooms.…

This book is primarily for the in-service teacher and discusses specific practices required in corrective reading. Some of the chapters and topics include: "Appraising Reading Problems in the Classroom," which discusses steps in remedial reading, the teacher's role, causes of reading failure, characteristics of a good reading program, and the…

ASPECTS OF READING RELATED TO CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED ADULTS AND CHILDREN ARE SURVEYED. THE MAIN TOPICS OF DISCUSSION BASED ON RESEARCH AND LITERATURE ARE READING ABILITY OF DISADVANTAGED ADULTS, READING ABILITY OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN, CAUSES OF READING PROBLEMS AMONT THE DISADVANTAGED, READING INTERESTS, LIBRARY USE BY DISADVANTAGED ADULTS,…

The Helping One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) Language Arts volunteer tutoring program was evaluated by comparing pre- and post-intervention scores on standardized measures of reading using a 5-month test-retest interval. Students (n = 129) from six elementary schools in Michigan that utilize the HOSTS program served as the experimental group, and…

This article looks closely at a subset of books about literacy in and out of school by analyzing images of children learning and struggling to learn to read in realistic fiction. There are several books in which characters wish to learn to read, worry about being poor readers, and work hard to learn to read. These books raise important questions…

This booklet is an annotated bibliography of recent work about the reading performance of Black-English-speaking children. The first half of the book lists materials according to the factors that influence the reading performance of black children: dialect interference, intellectual ability, environment, perceptual deficiencies, self-concept,…

In an attempt to lessen academic failure during the early years of schooling, 23 middle class kindergarten children who scored low on tests of cognitive development were given a special 6-week summer enrichment program. A control group of 23 low scorers received no enrichment program. Parents of the experimental subjects were invited to visit the…

A study involving five fourth-grade behavior problem children with reading failure was designed to replicate an earlier study which demonstrated positive effects of teacher written praise notes as motivating agents for improved performance. (SBH)

The self-defeating behavior of some students can often make even the most persistent of teachers to feel discouraged. The purpose of this article is to explain and provide a research-based rationale for the use of teacher verbal feedback prompts that convince students of their ability to succeed on a task. He discusses how to understand the…