This study estimated reading achievement gaps in different ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups of 1st graders in the U.S. compared with specific reference groups and identified statistically significant correlates and moderators of early reading achievement. A subset of 2,296 students nested in 184 schools from the Early Childhood…

A variety of preschool curricula is available and in widespread use, however, there is a lack of evidence from rigorous evaluations regarding the effects of these curricula on children's school readiness. The lack of such information is important as early childhood center-based programs have been a major, sometimes the sole, component of a number…

In response to criticism of a previous study, this paper reports a revision of a proposed phonics rule "when there are two vowels, one of which is a final e, the first vowel is long and the final e is silent" (cradle), which is called the VCE (Vowel Consonant E) rule. Following an introductory section, the paper examines previous research, citing…

There are at least two kinds of phonetic knowledge: phoneme synthesis and analytic knowledge. In phoneme synthesis a person demonstrates phonetic knowledge by being able to assemble segments into larger units. With analytic knowledge one knows that syllables or words are analyzable into constituent segments. One type of knowledge enables learning…

A study examined the effects of preschool reading intervention procedures on the knowledge about reading (reading readiness) of the subjects as they entered kindergarten. One such intervention, carried out for two consecutive years, involved giving low and middle income parents packets of several small, easy-to-read books and guidelines for using…

To identify the profile of the active older reader, indepth taped interviews were conducted with 23 retired individuals for whom reading was an important part of daily living experience. Demographic data indicated that the highest education level attained varied from grammar school to a master's degree. Developmentally, the lifetime reader…

This discussion reviews literature on early bilingualism and early reading in two languages and summarizes a research project aimed at developing the experimental conditions for teaching early bilingual reading in institutional settings. The review notes positive effects of early reading generally and of early bilingual literacy on intellectual…

Teachers make false assumptions about concepts five-year-olds can understand. (JH)

AN OUTLINE TO BE USED AS THE BASIS FOR READING INSTRUCTION IN THE PRIMARY GRADES IN KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI, IS PRESENTED. THE RESULT OF AN INSERVICE WORKSHOP, THE OUTLINE IS DEVELOPED UNDER FIVE MAJOR HEADINGS--(1) AIMS AND OBJECTIVES, (2) THE NATURE OF READING ACCORDING TO THE INDEXES USED BY LINGUISTS AND SEMANTICISTS, (3) READING READINESS--THE…

An intensive 6-week summer readiness program held in the Beaver Area School District, Beaver, Pennsylvania, developed linguistic facility among 15 preschool children. Daily activities included discussion, picture study, creative arts, field trips, developing experience charts, and other nonlanguage arts activities. A combined experiential,…

This study investigated the developmental relationships between a battery of cognitive tasks--including Piagetian operations of conservation, classification, and seriation--and early reading achievement. Subjects were 128 kindergarten through third-grade students at a suburban elementary school. They were administered a battery of cognitive tests…

This study presents an account of position saliency in terms of children's ability to utilize graphic information, and in particular the serial encoding of information from letters in a graphic pattern. By varying the number and position of the letters distinguishing graphic patterns (positive condition) in a short-term recognition memory (STRM)…

Most reading methods courses do not provide many experiences in children's literature. Because teachers have experienced an elementary school setting in which free reading was discouraged, and because teachers teach as they were taught, this trend continues. The need for a second reading course at the undergraduate level is clearly apparent.…

Some of the research dealing with pre-first-grade reading is discussed in relation to an experimental program with four-year-olds and pre-first-grade reading. The author states that little factual information exists for this topic and the majority of existing reports deal primarily with Head Start. Some of the shortcomings of reports on early…

This research was carried out to discover why student perceive differential teacher treatment when behavioral data suggest that teachers provide the same learning environment for both sexes. The research was carried out in four first-grade classrooms in a small Texas school district; in each class three girls and three boys rated high in…