Purpose: Readers can draw on their knowledge of sound-to-letter mappings to form expectations about the spellings of known spoken words prior to seeing them in written sentences. The current study asked whether such orthographic expectancies are observed in the absence of contextual support at the point of reading. Method: Seventy-eight adults…

Quantifying the decoding difficulty (i.e., 'decodability') of text is important for accurately matching young readers to appropriate text and scaffolding reading development. Since no easily accessible, quantitative, word-level metric of decodability exists, we developed a decoding measure (DM) that can be calculated via a web-based scoring…

This article examines how a second-grader demonstrates that reading is not about decoding letters and words in linear order but is a more complex activity involving the reader's decisions with respect to several aspects of their knowledge of their language and how comprehension is key to transacting with texts. The paper observes and documents the…

According to the results of this exploratory investigation, the students read better when they were requested to read for meaning and not interrupted during the reading process. (Author)

Reports that reading in unison, reading silently, and reading orally to partners were all successful in reducing oral reading errors in primary school students, but that unison and silent reading were more effective at error reduction than was reading orally to partners. (FL)

Reports on a survey of 135 future teachers who were asked about their memory of round robin reading when they were learning to read. Suggests 19 alternatives for oral reading techniques. (MG)

Investigates the impact of the interspersal procedure on students' reading tasks. Students read out loud two passages, with one containing additional interspersed brief, easy paragraphs. Students selected the passage that would require the least effort and the least time to read. Results suggest that the interspersal procedure may improve…

Suggests that the ways used to conceptualize beginning reading instruction, and the teaching methods employed need to be re-examined. (RB)

Because fluency instruction was identified, only recently, as a cornerstone literacy subject--it is still unfamiliar terrain for many teachers. This volume fills a crucial gap by offering a thorough, authoritative examination of what reading fluency is--and how it should be taught. Contributing authors, who include the field's leading authorities,…

The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that there is no significant difference in the number of books voluntarily read between sixth grade pupils in an experimental group having stories read to them and pupils in a control group having no stories read to them, and there is no significant difference in the attitudes toward reading…

Summarizes some of the conclusions of certain chapters in the recently published "Handbook of Reading Research" in which research on instructional practice was synthesized and critiqued. (HOD)

Reports a 3-year longitudinal study (grades 1 through 3) comparing (1) a basal reader program, (2) a phonics program, (3) a combination program of basal readers supplemented with phonics, and (4) a language arts approach using i/t/a. (MD)

A study examined growth in oral reading fluency in second, third, and fourth grade students after a treatment of intensive instruction. The 53 subjects were assigned to either an experimental or a control group, and all were administered form A of the Diagnostic Screening Test: Reading, to determine their independent reading level, instructional…

Although research efforts into improving reading fluency and general reading performance through fluency training have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, basal reading approaches still dominate reading instruction, and fluency is rarely viewed as an important component of the instructional package. Several models of reading fluency instruction…