Stagnant standardized test scores keep literacy achievement at the forefront of national education discussions. Increased conversations about the science of reading have propelled investigations into different types of phonics instruction. However, questions still linger such as "Which strategies are most effective for which students?",…

It has been more than twenty years since the National Reading Panel Report (2000) provided recommendations for the teaching of reading based on a meta-analysis of suitable research. The report was commissioned at the end of the 1990s, just as the "whole language" reading movement that advocated for analytic phonics instruction and having…

Within a developmental framework, this study compared the predictive validity of three DIBELS tasks (phoneme segmentation fluency [PSF], nonsense word fluency [NWF], and oral reading fluency [ORF]) with that of three alternative tasks drawn from the field of reading (phonemic spelling [phSPEL], word recognition-timed [WR-t], and graded passage…

This study seeks to explain what first- and second-grade African American, urban students who participated in an explicit comprehension strategy instruction (ECSI) program learned about comprehension strategies and how this knowledge supports self-regulated strategy use. The study was also designed to compare these students' knowledge with those…

The purpose of this study was to examine the vocabulary teaching of primary-grade teachers (K-3) in low-income schools. A total of 337 observations were conducted during language arts blocks over a three-year period. A coding scheme was developed to analyze teachers' vocabulary instruction. Results indicated that teachers spent less than 5%…

This study highlights the complex reading processes of two primary grade struggling readers. It provides a more complete picture of the readers' use of all parts of a text, verbal and visual, to construct meaning during reading. The oral reading data show that students used various linguistic strategies to read words, and the eye-tracking data…

This study examined factors affecting motivation for reading, writing, and spelling in primary grade students using a new measure, the Early Literacy Motivation Survey (ELMS). First-graders (198) responded to questions measuring attributions, self-efficacy, and perceived competence. The ELMS uses scenarios and short tasks to contextualize the…

Identifies two statistically significant prediction equations involving independent dynamics that are based on information provided by 225 primary teachers regarding (1) 14 predictor variables and (2) their orientations toward three instructional emphases: graphophonics, skills, and whole language. (NKA)

Examines different approaches to reading acquisition used in four first grades of a suburban elementary school. Supports the use of a language experience approach as a viable alternative to the basal reader approach for teaching reading and writing. (JK)

Concludes that teachers failed to follow the majority of recommendations found in the literature concerning seatwork assignments and did not assume a central role in students' learning. (FL)

Reveals that in the average number of words per T-unit, the complexity of basal reader passages generally exceeds that of children's oral language, and that none of the basal series studied exhibited a graduated increase in average number of words per T-unit among passages in the same reader. (FL)

Discusses the construction and testing of The Extended Basic Sight Vocabulary word list. Concludes that it provides educators with a unique instrument for the teaching and testing of words and for the preparation of instructional materials. Includes the word list. (FL)

Concludes that neither the focal attention nor contextual theory offers a powerful explanation for words learned through visual exposure. (FL)

Concludes that the level of categorization from which a word is drawn affects its learnability as a sight word. (FL)

Reports on three experiments designed to investigate K. Goodman's finding that children read words better in context than in isolation. Concludes that Goodman was wrong about the effects of context on word recognition, and that what seems to separate good from poor readers is the ability to decode words independently of context. (FL)