To learn and master new concepts, including the acquisition of new vocabulary, students must be able to sustain attention during direct instruction, stay focused throughout the guided practice activity, and successfully complete the independent practice assignments. Yet, difficulty with maintaining attention is a common characteristic for students…

This study reports the results of a peer-mediated intervention, total class peer tutoring, on the academic performance of six urban students at risk for reading failure. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to evaluate the effects of this intervention. The results showed that five of the six students significantly increased their…

Research has found similarities between specific reading disability and reading difficulty in children of low intelligence, especially in short-term memory deficits. Studies indicate that ability to acquire and use a knowledge of spelling patterns is a major problem, and efforts to teach more efficient decoding skills have met with limited…

Most struggling readers, including those with reading disabilities, have difficulties recognizing printed words. This unique, lucidly written book synthesizes the research on how children learn to read words skillfully and translates it into step-by-step strategies for the classroom. The author demonstrates how to plan and implement a coordinated…

Using a personalized word association method, six children with persistent reading difficulties in two British elementary schools were instructed in recognizing 100 common words. All children made significant progress, with the most progress made by those who originally had the smallest sight vocabularies. Students who devised their own sentences…

Fourteen students (ages 7-9) with reading difficulties were taught to create word-picture links for those words they find particularly difficult to recognize quickly. Students consistently learned more words when using the word association method. (DB)

This manual outlines a process for preparing individualized lesson plans in reading that are consistent across time, to assist in determining the effectiveness of various teaching methods for use with special education students. Part I discusses components of the plan: instructional procedures and target skill, time spent on each activity, the…

The lessons included in this collection were written by California Polytechnic State University Reading Specialist Credential candidates in the Salinas Cohort Project of 1992 as partial fulfillment for an education course titled "Bilingual Special Education Reading Problems." Each lesson is research-based. A rationale describes the…