This study describes a program designed to increase reading strategies in the first grade. The targeted population consisted of first grade students in a growing urban community in the Midwest. Evidence for the existence of the problem included records of low district and building reading assessments and academic grades to measure reading…

Encouraging teachers to utilize procedures and techniques that help their students become active, willing lifelong readers, this handbook has been compiled to serve as a guide for integrating the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment's (PSSA) definition of reading as a dynamic, interactive process into classroom practice. The handbook…

This brief introduces a research-based practice, Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR). This reading comprehension practice, designed to improve secondary students reading comprehension skills, combines two instructional elements: modified reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning or student pairing. In reciprocal teaching, teachers and…

This report describes a program for advancing reading comprehension skills. The targeted population consisted of second and fourth grade students in an affluent northern suburb of a large midwestern community. The problem of a lack of comprehension skills was documented through teacher observations, student and parent surveys, comprehension…

Reading while listening (RWL) is an instructional technique in which children associate unfamiliar written words with their corresponding familiar sounds. In RWL children listen to a text (often a "talking book" on audiotape or computer software) while following along in a printed version. A study examined the effect of RWL, with reader…

Acquiring literacy is one of the most important elements in building a foundation for success in education and life. This study describes a program that was implemented from January through May, 2001, for improvement in phonological awareness, alphabetic awareness and reading readiness skills through explicit instruction of phonemic awareness with…

Among 68 rural learning-disabled students in grades 5-7 having moderate decoding fluency and high decoding accuracy, a paraphrasing cognitive strategy increased reading comprehension of main ideas more effectively than repeated readings or control training. Paraphrasing plus repeated readings was no more effective than paraphrasing alone. Contains…

Examines the differential effects of reading guides on text comprehension and the transfer of strategies learned through the use of the guides to new material. Finds that students using reading guides had higher comprehension test scores and greater transfer than those who did not. (SR)

Discusses the use of mapping to help learning disabled students unlock the historical narrative in their history textbooks. Presents one way to map the narrative structure or grammar of a history text, including suggestions on how to effectively model and motivate students. (GEA)

This study reviews research indicating that specific instruction in reading comprehension strategies is effective in improving comprehension for students, including those with learning disabilities. The reading strategies of highly competent readers are identified, and effective application of transactional strategies instruction with weak…

Describes how a teacher used a reading strategy called "Intuitive Reading" to dramatically improve the reading skills of four learning-disabled high school students. (PRA)

Describes how reading aloud was incorporated as a regular component into a high school remedial program. Discusses how reading aloud helped students develop appreciation for the written language; a sense of cultural literacy; vocabulary; and metacognitive strategies. (SR)

Sums up new integrated approaches to teaching reading that are needed to help troubled college readers cope with advanced academic material. Presents two case studies that show how these approaches can work with very different at-risk students. (RS)

Studied effectiveness of a cooperative-learning approach designed to foster strategic reading and social studies learning, in three heterogeneous, culturally and linguistically diverse, fourth-grade classrooms. Found that the experimental-group students made greater gains than control-group students in reading comprehension, and equal gains in…

A study examined whether text structures were included in the "oral" videotaped retellings of a second grader with deafness across 28 texts. Improvements in the child's ability to include specific elements of text structures were documented over nine months. A 12-month increase in reading ability and narrative ability was also documented.…