Some Swedish schools do not identify and support students with reading difficulties efficiently enough during the first years at school. A longitudinal design was used to examine a multitiered RtI-model for identifying and supporting students at risk of reading difficulties in a Swedish school context. The results demonstrated that the RtI-model…

The importance of reading competence has been increasingly acknowledged in the Swedish educational system, not least through the demands for higher standards in reading in all subjects stated in the national curriculum. Still, in the school year 2018/19, approximately 7% of all Swedish pupils did not achieve the learning goals related to reading…

This study examined the effects of early phonological training on emergent phonological and reading skills. Children (N = 364) were randomly assigned in small groups to a phonological training group (n = 117), or a control group (n = 247) including both a non-phonological training group and a non-trained control group. The phonological training…

The aim of this study is to examine how a structured intensive training period with a phonological multisensory reading training method, at the end of Grade 1, can develop pupils' ability to connect phonemes with the corresponding graphemes as well as their ability to decode. A total of 38 pupils in Grade 1 from four elementary schools…

Although phonemic awareness is a well-known factor predicting early reading development, there is also evidence that Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) is an independent factor that contributes to early reading. The aim of this study is to examine phonemic awareness and RAN as predictors of reading speed, reading comprehension and spelling for…

For the first time, a pan-European study offers a comprehensive picture of reading literacy and identifies some of the key factors impacting on the acquisition of reading skills for 3-15 year olds. It addresses four key topics: teaching approaches, tackling reading difficulties, teacher education and the promotion of reading outside school. It…

In a longitudinal intervention study, Swedish reading disabled children in grades 2-3 received either a phonological (n = 41) or an orthographic (n = 39) training program. Both programs were computerized and interventions took place in ordinary school settings with trained special instruction teachers. Two comparison groups, ordinary special…

This report describes the birth of the Eve Malmquist Institute for Reading (EMIR) and its first year of operation. The report is in two parts. The first part presents the addresses given at the opening ceremony where the speakers gave their views on different aspects of reading and reading development, such as reading for pleasure, reading…

The purpose of this article is to relate the different scholarly views on reading and writing problems, proposed by influential agents with different research backgrounds, to the general development of participation in schooling and to educational policies in the Swedish welfare state during the 1900s. An historical perspective makes it possible…

This book presents articles that deal with literacy, both in a scientific, as well as in a practical and experiential way. Papers in the book are: "Opening Address" (Birgitta Ulvhammar); "Illiteracy: A Global Problem" (Eve Malmquist); "Swedish Cooperation with Developing Countries in the Field of Literacy" (Agneta…

Intended to provide an outlet for systematic and substantive reviews, both empirical and theoretical, and for extended integrative reports of programatic research, this volume focuses on the nature of reading and reading disabilities, with implications for both theory and practice. The first chapter of the book reports on a long-term study of the…