Identifying the best way to help students who struggle with reading--whether they have learning disabilities, are English language learners, or just need extra support--is a challenge for any teacher. Schools can make that task easier with this indispensable resource, a complete guide to addressing each student's specific instructional needs and…

This response to Vicki Snider (EC 602 672) claims that teaching reading through students' learning style strengths has resulted in accelerated learning and significant gains in student motivation, reading fluency, and comprehension. The commentary discusses the research base on phonics instruction, learning styles, and The Reading Style Inventory.…

The mother of a son with dyslexia documents her son's success in learning to read in a private school using the Orton-Gillingham approach and her efforts to bring that approach into the public schools of Delaware, through Project ASSIST (Alphabetic Sound Symbol Instruction Systematically Taught) and its volunteer tutors and teacher training.…

Examined the joint and unique predictive significance of emergent literacy skills for later emergent literacy skills and reading in two samples of preschoolers. Structural equation modeling revealed significant developmental continuity of these skills, particularly for letter knowledge and phonological sensitivity from late preschool to early…

The present study replicated the original evaluation of the Howard Street tutoring model (Morris, Shaw, & Perney, Perney, 1990), an intervention for struggling readers in second and third grade. It also evaluated the effectiveness of supervised paraprofessionals (Title I aides) in delivering that tutorial. For an entire school year, teachers or…

This study is a follow-up on a previous study of the effects of 2 beginning reading programs implemented in 1st grade. In the previous study, 40 1st-grade students who were matched based on their Concepts About Print Test (Clay, 1979) and Phonological Segmentation Fluency from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS; Good…

This article discusses different approaches to reading instruction for EFL learners based on theoretical frameworks. The author starts with the bottom-up approach to reading instruction, and briefly explains phonics and behaviorist ideas that inform this instructional approach. The author then explains the top-down approach and the new cognitive…

Administrators in the U.S. education system need to be more than good managers, they need to understand high-quality reading instruction, so they can serve their teachers and help their school meet Reading First requirements. Although written with the administrator in mind, this collection also can be used by teachers, teacher educators, staff…

This publication contains reports on eight research studies proposed, developed, and conducted by special education teachers in their own classrooms. The projects are: "Chapter 1 and Special Education Working Together To Activate Students' Participation in Applying Math through the Use of Technology" (Megan Haynes Blancett and Carol…

In 1987, Northern Arizona University's Center for Excellence in Education agreed to provide computer assisted reading instruction for juvenile delinquents experiencing academic difficulties. An interactive instructional program was used that incorporates the Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS) with the IBM InfoWindow system. PALS…

To provide the most effective instruction, materials, and support for beginning readers, teachers need to know if young children are more likely to process from print to meaning-- bottom-up or text-driven processing--or to interpret print to follow meaning--top-down or concept-driven processing. While some studies reveal a correlation between…

Intended to discourage classroom reading teachers from relying on "phonics instruction" as a remedy for students' inadequate reading performance, this pamphlet presents reasons why phonics drills should not be taught at all in the classroom and offers a set of practical phonic awareness activities to help poor readers overcome reading…

Intended to help dispel several unsupported "myths" about reading instruction, this book analyzes a selected group of teaching practices that have been supported by reading experts but not by research findings. The "myths" discussed in the first 12 chapters of the book are as follows: (1) phonics hinders comprehension; (2) unpredictable spelling…

This publication represents the development of a discrete Formula Phonics Videotape Reading/Language Arts Program for teaching English as a second language. Introductory chapters describe the program and the program design, explain how to prepare for teaching the lessons, and show how to introduce the program to students. The major part of the…

Twenty first grade children were videotaped during their first six weeks of learning to read in a study of the modified synthetic phonics program and the four progressive stages of oral reading behavior (emergence, contextual, nonresponse, and postresponse). The approach used by the teacher emphasized learning new words through the concurrent…