Background: In the context of the ongoing crisis in early reading literacy in South Africa, this article gives insight into teacher practices which reduce learners' opportunities to read continuous text for meaning. Aim: This ethnographic study investigated the microcosm of teacher practices in well-resourced environments. Setting: A purposive…

This action research project investigated the effects of daily teacher read-alouds on first graders' ability to sustain silent reading for an extended length of time. Students' enjoyment of silent reading was also investigated. The data on ability to sustain silent reading was collected from timed silent reading experiences, and a pre and post…

A 7-month study of 178 students in grades 1-4 at two Blue Ribbon schools compared two daily 20-minute treatments. Eighty-eight students used the 2000-2001 version of Project LISTEN's Reading Tutor (www.cs.cmu.edu/~listen) in 10-computer labs, averaging 19 hours over the course of the year. The Reading Tutor served as a computerized implementation…

This study explored the long-term benefits of the Reading Recovery ® program for economically disadvantaged students who were successfully discontinued after the first grade. The hypothesis was tested that students exiting first grade with grade-level reading abilities and with similar low socio-economic status (economically disadvantaged), who…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a paired reading program had a significant effect on first grader's reading achievement. Fifteen students in the experimental treatment were randomly paired to read stories. The study took place over a period of 10 weeks in a small suburban school district. Fifteen other students in the control…

Advocates a supplementary reading program for kindergartners and first graders that is a combination of modified sustained silent reading and Booktime, after an investigatory study showed that, although highly thought of, SSR was difficult in practice in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. (NKA)