Noting that reading instruction in the last years of the 20th century is still characterized by controversy, this book presents 18 essays that examine the best available research evidence about what is known--and what needs to be learned--about the teaching of reading and how children learn to read. Topics of the essays include whole language, learning about print, interactive reading, rediscovering literature in the curriculum, implications of reading research, and the publishing industry. Chapters in the book are: (1) "Phonics and Beginning Reading Instruction" (Marilyn Jager Adams); (2) "Phonemic Awareness: A Consideration of Research and Practice" (Kathleen Copeland and others); (3) "Structural Analysis: Some Guidelines for Instruction" (William E. Nagy and others); (4)"Twenty Years of Research on Reading: Answers and Questions" (Joanna P. Williams); (5) "If It Ain't Whole, It Ain't Language--or Back to the Basics of Freedom and Dignity" (Hans U. Grundin); (6) Whole Language: Exploring the Meaning of the Label" (Diane Stephens); (7) "Separating the Rhetoric from the Effects: Whole Language in Kindergarten and First Grade" (Steven A. Stahl); (8) "Creating Optimum Learning Environments: Is Membership in the Whole Language Community Necessary?" (Irene W. Gaskins); (9) "Awakening Literacy through Interactive Story Reading" (Bonnie M. Kerr and Jana M. Mason); (10) "Student, Text, Teacher: Interactive Learning in the Reading Recovery Program" (Gay Su Pinnell); (11) "Home and School Influences on Learning to Read in Kindergarten through Second Grade" (Linda A. Meyer and James L. Wardrop); (12) "The Power of the Narrative" (Tom Trabasso); (13) "Multiculturalism and Children's Literature" (Violet J. Harris); (14) "World Illiteracy" (Vincent Greaney); (15) "Resistance, Complacency, and Reform in Reading Assessment" (P. David Pearson and Anne C. Stallman); (16) "Research as We Approach the Millennium: Beyond 'Becoming a Nation of Readers'" (Judith A. Scott and others); (17) "Consensus Emerging, But a Way to Go" (James R. Squire); and (18) "Children, Adults, Books: Implications for Publishers" (John T. Ridley). (RS)