Presents three principles for working with poor readers in the upper elementary grades: (1) bring the class together as a literate community; (2) integrate reading and writing instruction; and (3) provide instruction on specific skills. Describes how one teacher, through application of these principles, helped a student overcome his reading…

Presents a father's perspective on the outcome of tracking in school. Describes how a child with an early love of literacy ended up as a disabled reader. Points out how grouping and tracking systematically destroyed the child's ability and interest in reading. (SR)

Argues that effective instruction for children with reading difficulties relies little on accurate diagnosis. Maintains that standardized reading tests can help identify children with reading problems. Asserts that children with reading difficulties would be better served by more instruction and less diagnosis. (CFR)

The purpose of this study was to contribute to and strengthen previous work that examined the long-lasting effects of Reading Recovery in statewide efforts aimed at bolstering early literacy achievement and reducing early learning difficulties. Specifically, the study explored the literacy achievement of Reading Recovery participants whose series…

Reading Recovery is a short-term intervention for first-grade children with reading and writing difficulties. This longitudinal study investigated the performance of a cohort of 1998 Reading Recovery students on later literacy achievement as measured by the 2001 Grade 4 Maine Educational Assessment (MEA). The results showed that the average MEA…

Achievement in most academic areas depends on reading. This study examines the relationship between play therapy and reading. Twenty-four first graders from two North Louisiana schools, who were repeating first grade and who had scored lowest on the Gates MacGinite Reading Test (GMRT) and the Stanford Reading Achievement Test the previous year,…

A study examined reading performance, metacognitive knowledge about reading, awareness of the conventions about print, perceptions of reading ability, and causal attributions for success and failure in reading of children with reading difficulties in Year 2 in Australia. One hundred children from the Brisbane region were involved in the…

Argues that federal policy decisions have shaped a particular configuration of services for low achieving readers at the school level because prevailing definitions conceptualize reading failure as a disability rather than as a disadvantage. Notes that reading researchers must be aware of this if low achieving children are to benefit from advances…

Reports on the second year of a supplementary reading program. Notes the program was successful with nonreading or delayed-reading students from regular and special education classrooms in grades one through eight. Argues that labels such as at-risk, learning disabled, and dyslexic are excuses for not initially teaching children how to read. (SR)

The ways in which the Reading Recovery Programme supports children with reading difficulties is considered in this article within the context of the national development of the programme in England which began in the 1990s. We go on to describe the implementation of this early intervention programme in one London LEA. We then compare the Early…

A fresh look should be taken at the traditional distinction between adults with reading disabilities and those with little or no literacy skills. Although the distinction may still be valuable for theoretical purposes, it may not be as useful as it once was for practical situations. Many adults seeking literacy instruction today have limited…

Drawing on a cross-national study of children's reading, a study examined the correlates of reading success and failure in Taiwan. Subjects, 240 randomly selected Taipei fifth graders, were administered a reading test, cognitive test, and mathematics achievement test. A structured interview with each child's mother and classroom behavior…

Intended for teachers and administrators, this book examines systematic observation of reading behaviors and reading recovery procedures to help children with reading problems. Part one deals with systematic observation, beginning with a discussion of the reading process and reading programs. Following that, it describes the use of the diagnostic…

Advocates encouraging parents who are illiterate or semiliterate to make use of practices that do not require literacy skills, but that will support their children in becoming successful readers. Suggests many activities that will help both children and parents develop literacy skills, such as tutoring and discussing television shows. (SKC)

Background: We evaluate the effectiveness of three theoretically motivated programmes for the teaching of reading to four-year-old children. Method: Four hundred and ten children, of pre-kindergarten age, in 20 UK Reception-year classrooms were divided into four matched groups and randomly assigned to one of three experimental teaching conditions,…