The middle school must meet the complex needs of children who are developing at different paces, who are uncertain of themselves and often emotionally volatile and who require individual attention, consistent guidance, and the opportunity to make sound value judgments. (JD)

New trends and emphases in education--increased individualization of instruction, new content for school programs, deeper parental and community involvement, and extension of the school's scope to include preschool and exceptional children--all call for more effective professional development programs in the education of teachers. (JD)

Evaluation of effective teaching requires close analysis of productive and nonproductive teaching decisions and behaviors, methods used to solve problems, and the kind of planning that best achieves identified educational goals. (JD)

Ability to read depends less upon learning isolated, sequential skills than upon the natural desire to communicate beyond the oral level and the opportunities offered by society and environment to develop this ability. (JD)

In this article the stages of learning how to read are outlined, and successful methods of teaching reading are described. (JD)

An educational psychologist discusses the problems children encounter in comprehending the written word. (JD)

For very young children, scribbling with a pencil and attempting to form letters to convey messages is often a significant prelude to early reading progress. (JD)

Instructional materials for beginning readers are usually highly structured stories; as the story emerges and fulfills their expectations about what a story should be, it confirms their sense that their reading has been successful. (JD)

The author discusses the processes by which children learn to read and how the natural sequence of learning may be used to improve reading instruction. (JD)

The extent of a child's sense of how story should progress logically from beginning to end helps him to gain fluency and pleasure in reading. (JD)

This article points out the importance of pleasure and enjoyment in increasing children's motivation to read and offers suggestions on books that are interesting and exciting and also well written and fine literature. (JD)

An interview with two adults who are fluent readers and writers leads to the conclusion that fluent readers get to be that way by reading, and by reading a great deal, from something of their own choosing. (JD)

The occurrences of beginning reading strategies outside of official classroom reading time reveals that children are more advanced in reading development than is generally assumed from the curricula, the materials, and tests usually given to first graders. (JD)

This article discusses ways of analyzing errors made in oral reading; interpreting mistakes in the correct way enables the teacher to understand why the reader is making them and to help overcome the reading difficulties they indicate. (JD)

Relating the knowledge about how children learn to their concerns, interests, and needs, enables a teacher to integrate these factors to give purpose and direction to a reading program. (JD)