Across the pendulum-like changes in beginning reading instruction over the past 30 years, three interrelated ideas emerge as the key to preventing reading failure in kindergarten and first grade: (1) an interesting, carefully-leveled book curriculum; (2) a leveled phonics curriculum; and (3) a well-trained teacher who knows how to integrate guided…

Teachers are constantly assessing their students, whether it is formally or informally. They use screening, diagnostic, and outcome assessments to determine areas of concern and then monitor the progress of the students based on the interventions given. They are called upon to intervene with prevention in mind, helping students catch up as they…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether integrating encoding instruction with reading instruction provides stronger gains for students who struggle with reading than instruction that includes little or no encoding. An instructional design model was investigated to best fit the data of 175 first-grade readers at risk for reading…

This article describes the implementation of small-group reading instruction as secondary- and tertiary-level components of a three-tier model of prevention and intervention. The study consisted of 83 students who were targeted in the winter of kindergarten as being at high risk for reading failure. Intervention consisted of evidence-based…

Reading disability and illiteracy are among the most pressing educational issues facing the United States today. At least 40 percent of America's fourth-graders are unable to read at grade level and a similar proportion of adults read at the lowest two levels of prose literacy. Here, the authors present an unflinching examination of the science…

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…

Children are faced with an increased potential for academic failure due to less stable family lives and career-oriented parents. Cross-cultural reading instruction practices and programs can provide insights that could prevent such failure for children at-risk. One such program is the reading maintenance program used in Denmark, wherein groups of…