This collection of articles provides background information about reading and includes the research base that has defined best practices in teaching reading. Section 1 of the collection, "The Big Picture," contains the following articles: "Reading the Right Way" (Bill Honig); "Statement of Dr. G. Reid Lyon, April 28, 1998"; "Romance and Reality" (Keith E. Stanovich); and "The Brain Reads Sound by Sound" (Kathy Lally and Debbie M. Price). Section 2, "Word Structure," consists of: "The History of the English Language" (Stephen Krensky). Section 3, "Sound/Print Connection," contains these articles: "What Every Teacher Should Know about Phonological Awareness" (Joseph K. Torgesen and Patricia Mathes); "The Reader, the Text, and the Task: Learning Words in First Grade" (Francine R. Johnston); and "Cross-Language Transfer of Phonological Awareness" (Aydin Y. Durgunoglu, William E. Nagy, and Barbara J. Hancin-Bhatt). Section 4, "Decoding and Word Attack," contains these articles: "The Role of Decoding in Learning To Read" (Isabel L. Beck and Connie Juel); "Repeated Reading: A Strategy for Enhancing Fluency and Fostering Expertise" (Irene H. Blum and Patricia S. Koskinen); "Developing Syntactic Sensitivity in Reading through Phrase-Cued Texts" (Timothy V. Rasinski); and "Interactive Writing in a Primary Classroom" (Kathryn Button, Margaret J. Johnson, and Paige Furgerson). Section 5, "Spelling," contains these articles: "'Why Do They Get It on Friday and Misspell It on Monday?' Teachers Inquiring about Their Students as Spellers" (Charlene Hillal Gill and Patricia L. Scharer); "Why Direct Spelling Instruction Is Important" (Barbara Foorman); and "A Cognitive Theory of Orthographic Transitioning: Predictable Errors in How Spanish-Speaking Children Spell English Words" (Olatokunbo S. Fashola, Priscilla A. Drum, Richard E. Mayer, and Sang-Jin Kang). Section 6, "Vocabulary," consists of: "Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in a Seventh-Grade Literature-Based Classroom" (Janis M. Harmon). Section 7, "Comprehension," contains these articles: "Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children" (edited by Catherine E. Snow, M. Susan Burns, and Peg Griffin); "Questioning the Author: An Approach to Developing Meaningful Classroom Discourse" (Margaret G. McKeown, Isabel L. Beck, and Cheryl A. Sandora); "Learning with Text in the Primary Grades" (Andrea M. Guillaume); and "Engaging with Reading through Interactive Read-Alouds" (Shelby J. Barrentine). Section 8, "Independent Reading," consists of: "Research Foundations To Support Wide Reading" (Richard C. Anderson). Section 9, "Effective Reading Programs," consists of: "Diverse Learners and the Tyranny of Time: Don't Fix Blame; Fix the Leaky Roof" (Edward J. Kameenui). (NKA)