This single subject experimental design study used an adapted alternating treatment design to examine the effects of a synthetic phonics intervention and an analytic phonics intervention on oral reading accuracy, oral reading rate, and letter-sound correspondences among first grade students. Students who were reading at least two levels below…

The transition from sounding out unfamiliar words to effortlessly reading connected text does not occur all at once nor at the same rate for students. The purpose of this study was to explore the accuracy of three decision rules (data point, median, and trend line) applied to progress monitoring outcomes of alphabetic principle (nonsense word…

The transition from sounding out unfamiliar words to effortlessly reading connected text does not occur all at once or at the same rate for students. The purpose of this study was to explore the accuracy of three decision rules (data point, median, and trend line) applied to progress monitoring outcomes of alphabetic principle (nonsense word…

This quantitative study examined the data collected from the students who participated in a reading intervention and compared their growth rate after one year of implementation to their growth rate prior to the intervention. The study was conducted in an affluent school corporation located in Indiana. The study evaluated the effectiveness of this…

Although reading fluency has been dismissed and overlooked as an important component of effective reading instruction, the author makes that case that fluency continues to be essential for success in learning to read. Moreover, many students who struggle in reading manifest difficulties in reading fluency. After defining reading fluency, the…

This article discusses the use of a reading curriculum designed to incorporate all of the proven practice components of reading as suggested in the United States National Reading Panel report (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). These practices are phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.…

This article synthesizes previous research studies examining reading instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD) through classroom observation methods. An extensive search of the research literature between 1980 and 2005 yielded 21 observation studies. Findings revealed that reading instruction for students with LD is generally of low…

The body of knowledge on critical components of reading instruction is broad and deep with phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension serving as building blocks for literacy. The importance of fluent reading (i.e., with speed, accuracy, and proper expression, as well as comprehension) in the formula for success is widely…

Investigates whether two groups of 6-year-old beginning readers taught to read by a phonics and by a "book experience" non-phonics approach would differ in reading comprehension as well as the processes of word recognition. Finds that the non-phonics approach taught children much faster reading reaction times to familiar words but they scored…

A phonetically based reading program was designed for senior high school special education students utilizing the teaching techniques of behavior modification. Student success was the primary reinforcing agent. Students began by reading orally sound symbols printed on cards. Each day the individual students' oral reading was timed. Throughout the…

This article reports some cautions to consider when too much emphasis is placed on phonic instruction, especially with adolescent and adult learners. The importance of developing automaticity in word identification and fluency in reading rate is discussed. Six specific procedures designed to improve reading fluency are outlined. (Author/CT)

The seventh edition of this book, like previous editions, is designed to give busy reading specialists, teachers, and students in reading education specific, concrete methods for locating and correcting reading difficulties. The book stresses the importance of direct instruction, motivational learning activities, and abundant practice in the act…

This executive summary discusses our current understanding of the difficulties that children with reading/learning disabilities encounter as they start down the road to reading and summarizes research on early identification and intervention. The focus is on children in kindergarten through second grade. Findings from the analysis indicate: (1)…

This article discusses different approaches to reading instruction for EFL learners based on theoretical frameworks. The author starts with the bottom-up approach to reading instruction, and briefly explains phonics and behaviorist ideas that inform this instructional approach. The author then explains the top-down approach and the new cognitive…

This publication is designed to give classroom teachers and reading specialists at all levels 42 ready-to-use informal diagnostic devices for the early and accurate identification of individual and group reading needs. It is organized into eight sections. The first contains suggestions to aid teachers in using various testing devices. The…