Describes Finland's 15-minute method for improving reading skills. Parents are asked to read aloud to their kindergarteners 15 minutes daily, and children are also encouraged to read. Notes are sent between teachers and parents so teachers can provide support. Older students are encouraged to read and listen to younger ones. (SM)

Used class discussions to explore the influence of gender on beginning readers in a Grade 1 classroom. Found that although children's mothers read the most often, both parents did read to their children. Familiarity, genre, and challenge influenced children's reading selections. Also found gender differences in book preferences and reading…

This study compared outcomes for 74 congenitally legally blind adults who learned to read braille or print as their original reading medium. Those who learned to read using braille had higher employment rates and educational levels, were more financially self-sufficient, and spent more time reading than did those who learned to read using print.…

In this article, the author asserts that it is impossible for a person who does not love reading to be a good literacy teacher. She discusses the reasons her undergraduate preservice teaching students give for having given up on reading as a pleasurable activity, presents strategies her graduate students used to begin to enjoy reading, and offers…

A study examined what kinds of books middle schoolers will read when given the freedom to choose. Subjects were 55 children of middle-class parents enrolled in 2 sections of eighth-grade English at a university laboratory school. Of the original population of 55 students, 7 elected not to have data from their reading included, and records were not…

This study sought to identify the reading interests and preferences of older adult public library users in the Oakwood, Ohio community, and also to gauge interest in large print materials within this group. Surveys assessed in this study were completed by 70 adults age 50 or over. The results revealed a wide range of reading interests and…

Parents can awaken their children to the joy of learning by encouraging their imagination and curiosity. This booklet is one in a series of topical books written to help parents encourage children to study, learn, and stay in school. All of the books in this series tie in with the National Education Goals for the year 2000. This booklet addresses…

No one denies that students have many more distractions today than in days gone by. The need for family involvement in a child's reading progress joins a surge in American society for parents to take more responsibility for their children's character and in the condition of their communities. Some hints for parents in establishing family literacy…

A study examined the status of reading in Indiana's public schools. Questionnaires were returned by 460 of the state's 615 public middle, junior, and senior high schools. Results indicated that: (1) new book acquisitions in Indiana's school library media center book collections were only about one-fourth of the recommended number needed to keep…

The Ohio State Literacy Survey, which assessed Ohio adults' literacy skills according to their performance on tasks reflecting the materials/demands encountered in daily life, was administered to a sample of 1,568 persons aged 16 years or older who were randomly selected from Ohio's approximately 8.3 million adults. Each participant received…

A study was conducted to determine why students were rejecting books recommended by their teachers for independent reading assignments. Approximately 80 eighth-grade students were given a reading interest survey/questionnaire to establish student reading interests. Students were then given a list of 15 independent reading selections compiled by…

The purpose of this study was to measure how learning disabled (LD) children perceive reading and libraries. No similar studies were found during the literature search undertaken for this project. Twenty-three fourth and fifth grade students identified as learning disabled by their school system were interviewed to collect information on their…

A study examined teachers' reading habits and attitudes. Subjects, 204 educators who were enrolled in classes or a for-credit reading workshop in the northern Illinois area, completed a 32-item survey to determine their reading habits. Respondents were primarily elementary teachers who had earned at least a bachelor's degree and who had six or…

The Jog America Read-A-Thon guide is one of the reading incentive strategies used in the Books and Beyond program which is designed to increase K-6 students' recreational reading and reduce their indiscriminate television viewing. The method used in this guide is to have students read books and move a running shoe marker on a large map of the…

Focusing on adolescent literature, this issue highlights the role of historian, writer, teacher, and reader in fact, fiction, and history. The following essays are included: "Doing the Literacy Tango" (J. L. Collier); "Biography and Books of James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier" (J. Bugniazet); "Fact, Fiction and History: The Role of…