This article presents the author's response to Karen Eppley's "Reading Mastery as Pedagogy of Erasure". Eppley's commentary (2011) on Dr. Stockard's article, "Increasing Reading Skills in Rural Areas: An Analysis of Three Rural School Districts" (Stockard, 2011), uses selected details as points of departure for a critique of…

Special education teachers working in intermediate grades and in middle school grades face many challenges as they teach both developmental reading skills and subject matter material. Not only must they deal with the increased vocabulary and domain demands of teaching informational text, they must also handle the needs of students who have not yet…

When outlining is used as a task to focus discussion of a reading selection in small collaborative learning groups, it helps students to map out a sequence of ideas on a trial basis, takes the pressure off students to come up with a "right answer," and gives them a feel for the process by which meaning gradually develops and unfolds.…

Mediated and "live" picture books engender different patterns of interaction between reader and child. The reading of a TV picture book is a text, not an interaction centered on a text. Exposure to mediated picture books alone appears to be an inadequate replacement for "live" book reading in the acquisition of literacy. (18 references) (CP)

The literacy problem in the Cleveland area and recommendations for dealing with it are presented in this booklet. Beginning with a definition of literacy and a discussion of the human costs and economic consequences of illiteracy, the booklet advocates reducing adult illiteracy, eliminating basic skills deficits, and improving communications…

Contends that the imposition of competence standards might compensate for the climate of permissiveness that allowed students to graduate from high school without having developed high school level skills in the basics. (DD)

A strong statement about the declining academic standards in Australian high schools and about the need for an educational system that embodies diligence and self-discipline. (AEA)

Defines literacy as the ability to make good-mannered sense in reading and writing to the satisfaction of those in power with respect to the task at hand. Lists educational essentials necessary to produce a literate populace, offers a critique of current schools, and recommends an experiential approach to teaching reading and writing. (AEA)

The minimum competency goal that now dominates college basic skills instruction is not adequate to prepare the student for success in and beyond college. More can be accomplished within basic skills courses than the mere acquisition of literal information from a reading selection. The use of thematic unity can impose meaningful organization on the…

Relates Victorian attitudes toward education by a forgotten 19th century liberal educator concerned with proper moral education. Concludes that uses and development of basic literacy are severely bound by individual and social contexts and that basic literacy does not, in itself, wield a magical transforming power for learning and life. (TRS)

Reading and related basic skills should be stressed in the elementary social studies curricula. An integrated curriculum makes social studies more meaningful to students and strengthens its position in the curriculum. (Author/AM)

The essays contained in this document, which launches the University of Georgia Education Initiative, attempt to address Georgia's need for increased literacy in realistic and constructive terms. Taken together, these essays constitute an agenda for action--a challenge to all those who wish to provide Georgians with the quality education they…

Presents a discussion of the rethinking of the role of literacy in African nations. Emphasis is needed on measurement concepts for peasants. Cultural motivations are suggested as important considerations when planning literacy programs. (SA)

Presents suggestions for research on reading in the home economics education content area. Includes a discussion of the significance of basic skills and reading education, an overview of the role of reading in basic skills education, and reading in the content area versus reading instruction. (JOW)

The relationships that exist among the skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening suggest a need for greater attention to oral communication processes in the formal instructional program. The extent of these relationships is such that four national associations drafted a joint paper stating that oral language competency is the basis for…