Prepared for teachers, school administrators, parents, and other members of the interested public, this summary of Marilyn Jager Adams'"Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print" selects from the complex and extensive body of research in the book to present a more direct but much less detailed account of useful, research-based…

Reading failure can be eliminated by the year 2000 if reading teachers believe it can be done, can develop the new procedures needed to make their dreams come true, and are willing to make fundamental changes in how they teach reading. Phonic utility research clearly indicates that phonics instruction is neither dependable nor useful. The current…

Noting that both comprehension and decoding are used by effective readers and that both processes should be taught, this concept paper focuses on effective strategies for reading instruction. Following an introduction, the first section focuses on the conclusions drawn about word identification by reading researchers. Subsections include…

The vocabulary lists from five basal readers were examined in an effort (1) to determine what information is taught in the form of phonic generalizations in current, primary-level basal readers; (2) to examine intraprogram reliability of those generalizations; and (3) to determine whether the content of generalization instruction had changed since…

A random sample and a sample of retarded readers were selected from fourth- and sixth-grade students in the Grand Prairie Independent School District. All students were tested in the areas of auditory perception, visual perception, and phonics abilities. The tests administered were: two subtests from the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test; four…

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THREE APPROACHES TO TEACHING BEGINNING READING AND THE INFLUENCE OF AN ORAL LANGUAGE STIMULATION PROGRAM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN IS REPORTED IN THE FIRST-YEAR REPORT OF A 2-YEAR INTERVENTION STUDY. SUBJECTS WERE 608 FIRST-GRADE PUPILS FROM 12 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN AN INNER-CITY AREA. THE THREE EXPERIMENTAL…

Three studies were conducted as part of a series designed to identify the subskills of word identification that correlate most highly with reading comprehension and to examine various methods of assessing these subskills. In the first study, the prototype of a decoding (word identification) test was administered to 282 first, third, and fifth…

A statewide assessment study of reading programs in Rhode Island is described. Data concerning the history of the primary reading program of the 1965-66 fourth-grade class were gathered; a status study of the reading programs throughout the elementary grades for that year was conducted. Principals' and teachers' opinions on the requirements for a…

This paper proposes that phonics and meaning instruction in beginning reading programs can be designed to be mutually supportive. The first section outlines attempts to modify a commercially available reading program in order to provide useful phonics instruction strategies. Students showed strong gains on achievement tests after implementation of…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two instructional strategies for six phonic word-attack skills objectives. The study was undertaken in order to identify training procedures for helping teachers to become more effective at reading instruction. Written criterion-referenced phonic word-attack skills pretests were…

The main purpose of this study was to structure and compare two series of grapheme-phoneme correspondence and phonics generalizations. The first series of correspondences and generalizations is designed for seriously disabled readers in grades 3-9 and was derived through a phonemic analysis of the first 1,500 words of the Heritage list ( The…

The effectiveness of the impress method of reading instruction, in which the student and teacher read aloud simultaneously, was studied. The subjects were 24 fourth and fifth grade students from a New Jersey school, whose reading level was a year or more below grade placement (indicated by scores on a standardized achievement test) and who…

Shows that mentally handicapped preschool children can learn to read words when word cards become tools for communicating their wishes. Indicates also that language skills improve and that these transfer to other situations. (FL)

Describes in detail a procedure that teaches childen to integrate two word identification strategies--use of contexts and phonics. Reports on a study showing the effectiveness of the strategy. (FL)

This report summarizes the work and findings of the National Reading Panel, charged by Congress to assess the status of research-based knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching children to read. The introduction to the report discusses the charge to the panel by Congress, establishment of the panel, the panel's…