EFFECTIVE READING INSTRUCTION

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A SUCCESSFUL READING PROGRAM REQUIRES A RICH UNDERSTANDING OF

THE CHARACTERISTICS AND CONTENT OF EFFECTIVE READING INSTRUCTION, INCLUDING THE WAY IN

WHICH INSTRUCTION ADDRESSES FIVE CRITICAL AREAS OF READING: PHONEMIC AWARENESS, PHONICS,

FLUENCY, VOCABULARY, AND TEXT COMPREHENSION. THE MATERIALS IN THIS SECTION ARE DESIGNED TO
HELP EDUCATORS UNDERSTAND AND IDENTIFY THESE CHARACTERISTICS, OR THE LACK OF THEM, IN

THEIR OWN PROGRAMS OR IN PROGRAMS THEY ARE CONSIDERING FOR IMPLEMENTATION.

THIS SECTION OF THE GUIDEBOOK INCLUDES:

A PowerPoint presentation summarizing the critical components of reading and effective

instructional approaches that need to be included in kindergarten through third grade reading
curriculums and programs

Quotes and Summaries from Resource Documents

Key Terminology

A Summary Checklist for administrators and teachers evaluating a reading instruction program

References

A Reading Research Sampler offering selected abstracts of studies referenced by the National
Reading Panel in its analysis of existing reading research

A Reading Resource Sampler on early reading offering selected abstracts of studies that have
investigated issues in preschool reading preparation programs
A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION SUMMARIZING THE

CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF EFFECTIVE READING

INSTRUCTION
Sharon Vaughn,Team Leader The University of Texas at Austin,
College of Education,
Pam Bell Morris, Author Texas Center for Reading and
Martha Smith, Author Language Arts

Jeanne Wanzek
Shirley Dickson
Elana Wakeman, Graphics

Maria Elena Arguelles University of Miami

Isabel Beck University of Pittsburgh
Jan Dole University of Utah
Barbara Foorman The University of Texas Health Science Center
Alice Furry Sacramento County Office of Education
Dauna Howerton New Mexico State Department of Education
Jean Osborn Consultant
Timothy Shanahan University of Illinois at Chicago
Deborah Simmons University of Oregon
Josefina Tinajero The University of Texas —El Paso

Effective Reading Instruction

 3
The purpose of the session is to provide a
description of beginning reading instruction that:
● is based on scientific reading research (what we know
now that we didn ’t know before about reading instruction
and preventing reading difficulties);
● includes the critical components of reading and effective
instructional approaches that need to be included in
kindergarten through third grade reading curriculums and
programs;
● incorporates the features of effective reading instruction,
such as grouping and maximizing student learning;
● focuses on providing early intervention (additional,
accelerated, and intensive instruction for struggling readers
and children with special needs);
● informs the evaluation, selection, and implementation of
Refer participants to Resource 1:“Quotes and Summaries from instructional programs and professional development.
ResourceDocuments ”--Quotations and summaries organized by topics.

4
● Be relentless.Take responsibility for how reading
instruction is delivered.Teach every child, every day, at
every grade level.
● Hold high standards for all students (No Child Left
Behind, 2001).
● When children don’t learn to read, it is not their fault. Nor
is it the teacher’s fault if he or she has not received
training based on scientific reading research.

References for slide:Education Research,1999;Fletcher

&Lyon,1998;National Reading Panel,2000

5
● Reading First is not the same as the Reading Excellence Act.
● Reading First is about applying what we know from research
to what we know children need to learn and to how we
teach them to read.
● Use systematic, ongoing classroom-based instructional
assessment to monitor the progress of every child and to
drive instruction.
● When children fall behind, change what is being done or
provide additional instruction.
● We can’t keep doing the same thing that has been done
before.
● Remember that English language learners are doing twice
the cognitive work of native English speakers during reading
instruction.They are attending to the sounds, meanings, and
structures of a new language and are acquiring new literacy
concepts and skills.

Effective Reading Instruction

 6
● Reading is a complex skill that involves the integration of
complex components (Lyon & Kameenui, 2001; National
Reading Panel, 2000).
● The goal of beginning reading instruction is to enable
children to read stories and informational texts quickly
and accurately so they understand what they read
(Adams,1990).
● “The beginning of comprehension is the decoding of
individual words …Once children can decode, they are
empowered to read, read, read, with greater fluency,
vocabulary, and world knowledge...” (Pressley ,2000, p.556).
● Phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle (the
connection between letters and sounds), and phonics and
decoding strategies help children accurately recognize
words on sight in print. Accurate word recognition then
leads to automatic and fluent reading of words and Refer participants to Resource 2:“Key Terminology”
sentences that in turn results in text comprehension or --Definitions of key terms for each topic.
understanding what is read (National Reading Panel, 2000).

7
Effective phonemic awareness instruction:
● provides explicit and systematic instruction in small
groups;
● begins with auditory phonemic awareness activities to
direct children’s attention to sound;
● links phonemes with letters as soon as children
understand that letters represent segments of their own
speech (National Reading Panel, 2000).

References for slide:Learning First Alliance, 2000; National

Reading Panel, 2000; National Research Council, 1998

Effective Reading Instruction

 8
● 52 peer-reviewed experimental studies reveal the
significant effects of explicit instruction in phonemic
awareness, especially when combined with instruction in
letter sounds (National Reading Panel, 2000).
● These effects positively impacted reading growth (including
word recognition and comprehension) for all students and
accelerated spelling growth for all children except those
with established learning disabilities (National Reading
Panel, 2000).
● Phonemic awareness and letter knowledge are the two
best school-entry predictors of how well children learn to
read during their first 2 years in school (Learning First
Alliance, 2000; National Reading Panel, 2000; National
Research Council, 1998).
● Children who have poorly developed phonemic awareness
at the end of kindergarten are likely to become poor
readers (Learning First Alliance, 2000; National Reading
Panel, 2000).

9
● Phonics and word study (decoding strategies) involve the
systematic instruction of letter-sound relations to read and
spell words accurately and quickly (Learning First Alliance,
2000; National Reading Panel, 2000).
● Explicit, systematic phonics instruction:
- Benefits all beginning readers and most particularly
children having difficulty learning to read;
- Can be delivered through tutoring, small group and
whole group instruction, especially in kindergarten and
1st grade and to help in preventing reading difficulties
among at-risk students;
- Is integrated with other reading instruction to create a
complete reading program (National Reading Panel,
2000).

References for slide: Learning First Alliance, 2000; National Reading

Panel, 2000; National Research Council, 1998

Effective Reading Instruction

 10
● Thirty-eight studies indicate systematic phonics instruction
results in growth in both reading and spelling when
combined with applying that knowledge in daily reading
and writing activities (National Reading Panel, 2000).
● Systematic phonics produces gains in reading, not only in
early grades but in the later grades, and among children
having difficulties learning to read (Learning First Alliance,
2000; Lyon & Kameenui, 2001; National Reading Panel,
2000).
● Systematic instruction maximizes the likelihood that
whenever children are asked to learn something new, they
already possess the necessary background knowledge to
efficiently understand it (Adams, 2001).

11
● Children first string letters together randomly. With
insight into the alphabet, they begin to spell by sounding
out words, then they progress to one-syllable spelling
patterns, syllable combinations, and the spelling of
meaningful parts of words (Learning First Alliance, 2000).
● Spelling instruction promotes using letter-sound
knowledge, phonological awareness, knowledge of word
parts, and spelling conventions.

References for slide: Learning First Alliance, 2000; National

Reading Panel, 2000; National Research Council, 1998

12

Effective Reading Instruction

 13
● Fluency is reading quickly, accurately, and with expression
(National Reading Panel, 2000).
● Skilled readers process the letters of each word accurately
and rapidly with little attention or effort (Adams,Treiman
& Pressley, 1998; Lyon & Kameenui, 2001; Share &
Stanovich, 1995).

References for slide: Learning First Alliance, 2000;

National Reading Panel, 2000

14
● Repeated reading procedures work under a wide variety
of conditions and with minimal special training or materials
(National Reading Panel, 2000).
● When word identification is fast and accurate or
automatic, cognitive resources are free to process meaning
(National Reading Panel, 2000).

15
● Text comprehension is the process that enables readers to
make meaning of text and to communicate meaning about
what was read (National Reading Panel, 2000).
● Comprehension strategies are conscious plans or
procedures that good readers use to help them be aware
of how well they are comprehending as they read and
write (National Reading Panel, 2000).

References for slide: Learning First Alliance, 2000; National Reading

Panel, 2000; National Research Council, 1998

Effective Reading Instruction

 16
● Comprehension strategies that appear to improve
comprehension in normal readers include comprehension
monitoring, cooperative learning, and graphic and semantic
organizers, including story maps, question answering,
question generation, and summarization (National Reading
Panel, 2000).

17
● Vocabulary is a component of both oral and written
language (National Research Council, 1998).

References for slide: Learning First Alliance, 2000; National

Reading Panel, 2000; National Research Council, 1998

18
● Repeated exposure to vocabulary in a variety of contexts,
including other reading material and in content areas,
improves children’s vocabulary (National Reading Panel,
2000).

Effective Reading Instruction

 19
● Explicit, systematic phonemic awareness and phonics
instruction does NOT JUST occur incidentally as teachers
see a need in the context of reading text and writing
(National Reading Panel, 2000).
● Explicit and systematic phonics:
- does NOT focus on whole-word methods with their
limited attention to letter-sounds in words and little or
no instruction on how to blend letter sounds to
pronounce words;
- does NOT have to mean dull drill and meaningless
worksheets;
- does NOT occur only as a part of invented spelling
activities or through the use of picture cues during
reading;
- does NOT regard attention to letter-sound
correspondences to decode words as one part of a
References for slide: Learning First Alliance, 2000;
National Reading Panel, 2000; National Institute for Literacy, 2001; triple cueing system.
National Research Council, 1998

20

References for slide: Learning First Alliance, 2000; National Reading

Panel, 2000; National Research Council, 1998

Effective Reading Instruction

 21
● Features of effective instruction reflect the body of
research that has identified instructional procedures most
associated with significant gains in student achievement.

22
● Use flexible grouping that provides opportunities for
students to be members of more than one group.
● Incorporate peer tutoring; pair students together (e.g., less
proficient reader with a more proficient reader).

References for slide: Elbaum,Vaughn, Hughes,

Moody, & Schumm, 2000; National Reading Panel, 2000;
Vaughn, Hughes, Moody, & Elbaum, 2001;
Vaughn,Thompson, Kouzekanani, Bryant, & Dickson, 2001

Effective Reading Instruction

 23

References for slide: National Reading Panel, 2000;

National Research Council, 1998; Rosenshine, 1997;
Simmons & Kameenui, 1998

24
● Small group instruction is generally more effective when
teaching phonemic awareness (National Institute for
Literacy, 2001; National Reading Panel, 2000).
● Small group instruction is especially effective when
teachers match materials and instruction to students’
needs (Lou et al., 1996).
● Student engagement is an essential factor linked to
academic achievement (National Research Council, 1998).

Effective Reading Instruction

 25
● In this next portion of our presentation, interventions
refer to additional, targeted, and intensive instruction
provided to students who are struggling with learning to
read and write.
● Intervention programs may be published programs, but
frequently involve altering the conditions of instruction,
such as providing extra instructional time during the
school day.

References for slide: National Research Council, 1998

26
● Provide many opportunities to practice with more support
initially and less support as students become more
proficient (Rosenshine, 1997; Simmons & Kameenui, 1998;
Vygotsky, 1978).
● Help students learn to apply reading strategies when
reading and writing independently (Vaughn et al., 2000).

References for slide: National Reading Panel, 2000; National

Research Council, 1998;Vaughn, Gersten, & Chard, 2000

Effective Reading Instruction

 27
● Some children, including those with special needs, may
never learn to read unless they are taught in an explicit,
systematic way by a knowledgeable teacher using a well-
designed instructional approach that is adapted to their
unique strengths and needs (National Research Council,
1998).

28
● A balanced approach to reading is determined by the
educational needs of the student.

References for slide: National Reading Panel, 2000; National Research

Council, 1998

Effective Reading Instruction

 29

References for slide: National Reading Panel, 2000; National

Research Council, 1998

30
● Most children begin school with positive attitudes and
expectations for success, but beginning reading difficulties
can negatively affect how they feel about reading and lead
to reading problems that persist into adolescence and
adulthood.
● The most effective way to maintain positive expectations
about reading is to provide explicit and systematic reading
instruction in the knowledge and skills children need to
become successful readers (Fletcher & Lyon, 1998;
National Research Council, 1998).

Effective Reading Instruction

Effective Reading Instruction
QUOTES AND SUMMARIES FROM RESOURCE
DOCUMENTS
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 1 (1 of 5)

Quotes and Summaries from Resource Documents

Learning First Alliance. (2000). Every child reading: A professional development
guide. Baltimore: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.

National Institute for Literacy. (2001). Put reading first: The research blocks for
teaching children to read. Jessup, MD: Author.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based

assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its
implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development.

National Research Council. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young

children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Effective Reading Instruction

“ . . . many children learn to read with good instruction, but some do not. And
many children have problems learning to read because of poor instruction”
(National Research Council, 1998, p. 247).

“Effective instruction necessarily recognizes that learning builds on prior

knowledge. Beyond any collection of compelling objectives and engaging
activities, therefore, effective instruction requires a developmental plan that
extends across days and weeks of the school year as well as a means for
monitoring progress so as to adjust that plan accordingly” (National Research
Council, 1998, p. 193).

“The successful teacher adapts the pacing, content and emphasis of instruction
for individuals and groups, using valid and reliable assessments” (Learning First
Alliance, 2000, p. 11).

Components of Reading Instruction

“Effective reading instruction is built on a foundation that recognizes that reading
outcomes are determined by complex and multifaceted factors . . . . A disruption
of any of these factors increases the risk that reading will be delayed or impeded,
a phenomenon particularly prevalent in impoverished urban and rural
neighborhoods and among disadvantaged minority populations” (National
Research Council, 1998, pp. 313-315).
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 1 (2 of 5)

Phonemic Awareness (PA)

“ . . . children will differ in their PA and some will need more instruction than
others. In kindergarten, most children will be nonreaders and will have little PA,
therefore PA instruction should benefit everyone. In first grade, some children will
be reading and spelling while others may know only a few letters and have no
reading skills. The nonreaders will need much more PA and letter instruction than
those already reading” (National Reading Panel, 2000, p. 2-33).

“The PA skill thought to be important for developing word memory is being able
to segment pronunciations into phonemes that link to graphemes” (National
Reading Panel, 2000, p. 2-13).

Teaching children to manipulate phonemes using letters produced greater effects

than teaching without letters (National Reading Panel, 2000, p. 2-4).

“If teachers have students who are learning English as a second language, they
need to realize that their students are almost bound to misperceive some English
phonemes because their linguistic minds are programmed to categorize
phonemes in their first language, and this system may conflict with the phoneme
categorization system in English” (National Reading Panel, 2000, p.2-32).

Systematic Phonics Instruction

“Good readers do not depend primarily on context to identify words” (Learning

First Alliance, 2000, p. 14).

“The focus of systematic phonics is on helping children acquire knowledge of the

alphabetic system and its use to decode new words, and to recognize familiar
words accurately and automatically. Knowing how letters correspond to
phonemes and larger subunits of words is essential for enabling beginning
readers to sound out words segments and blend these parts to form recognizable
words. Alphabetic knowledge is needed to figure out new words by analogy and
to help beginners remember words they have read before. Knowing letter-sound
relations also helps children to be more accurate in predicting words from
context. In short, knowledge of the alphabetic system contributes greatly to
children’s ability to read words in isolation or connected text” (National Reading
Panel, 2000, p. 2-90).

“Systematic phonics instruction typically involves explicitly teaching students a

prespecified set of letter-sound relations and having students read text that
provides practice using these relations to decode words” (National Reading
Panel, 2000, p. 2-92).
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 1 (3 of 5)

Regarding decodable text: “The intent of providing books that match children’s
letter-sound knowledge is to enable them to experience success in decoding
words that follow the patterns they know” (National Reading Panel, 2000,
p. 2-97).

Spelling and Writing

“Reading and writing are two sides of the same coin. Both depend on fluent
understanding and use of language at many levels. Each enhances the other”
(Learning First Alliance, 2000, p. 21).

“Recent research supports the premise that written composition is enhanced by

mastery of the component skills of spelling and writing just as reading
comprehension is supported by mastery of fluent word recognition” (Learning
First Alliance, 2000, p. 22).

“Instruction should be designed with the understanding that the use of invented
spelling is not in conflict with teaching correct spelling. Beginning writing with
invented spelling can be helpful for developing understanding of phoneme
identity, phoneme segmentation, and sound-spelling relationships.
Conventionally correct spelling should be developed through focused instruction
and practice. Primary-grade children should be expected to spell previously
studied words and spelling patterns correctly in their final writing products”
(National Research Council, 1998, p. 195).

Fluency

“Because the ability to obtain meaning from print depends so strongly on the
development of word recognition accuracy and reading fluency, both should be
regularly assessed in the classroom, permitting timely and effective instructional
response when difficulty or delay is apparent” (National Research Council, 1998,
p. 7).

“ . . . repeated reading and other procedures that have students reading

passages orally multiple times while receiving guidance or feedback from peers,
parents, or teachers are effective in improving a variety of reading skills. . . .
These procedures help improve students’ reading ability, at least through grade
5, and they help improve the reading of students with learning problems much
later than this. . . . lAnd theym tended to improve word recognition, fluency (speed
and accuracy of oral reading), and comprehension with most groups” (National
Reading Panel, 2000, pp. 3-20; 3-28).
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 1 (4 of 5)

Text Comprehension
“Throughout the early grades, reading curricula should include explicit instruction
on strategies, such as summarizing the main idea, predicting events or
information to which the text is leading, drawing inferences, and monitoring for
misunderstandings, that are used to comprehend text (either read to the students
or that students read themselves)” (National Research Council, 1998, p. 195).

“The instruction of cognitive strategies improves reading comprehension in

readers with a range of abilities. . . . This improvement occurs when teachers
demonstrate, explain, model, and implement interaction with students in teaching
them how to comprehend a text (National Reading Panel, 2000, p. 4-47).

Vocabulary
“ . . . methods in which children were given both information about the words’
definitions and examples of the words’ usages in a variety of contexts resulted in
the largest gains in both vocabulary and reading comprehension” (National
Research Council, 1998, p. 218).

“Vocabulary should be taught both directly and indirectly. Repetition and multiple
exposures to vocabulary items are important. . . . Vocabulary learning should
entail active engagement in learning tasks. . . . How vocabulary is assessed and
evaluated can have differential effects on instruction. Dependence on a single
vocabulary instruction method will not result in optimal learning” (National
Reading Panel, 2000, p. 4-27).

Grouping
“When children were taught in small groups, their learning was greater than when
they were taught individually or in classrooms” (National Reading Panel, 2000, p.
2-4).

“ . . . small groups are the best way to teach PA (phonemic awareness) to

children. Also small groups facilitate greater transfer to reading. . . . Children may
benefit from observing their peers respond and receive feedback or from listening
to their peers’ comments and explanation. Or children may be more attentive and
motivated to learn so that they do well in the eyes of their peers.” (National
Reading Panel, 2000, p. 2-42).
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 1 (5 of 5)

Effective Interventions
“Research affirms that quality classroom instruction in kindergarten and the
primary grades is the single best weapon against reading failure. Indeed, when
well done, classroom instruction has been shown to overwhelm the effects of
student background and supplementary tutoring” (National Research Council,
1998, p. 343).

“Supplementary instruction has merit if the intervention is time limited and is

planned and delivered in a way that makes connections to the daily experiences
that the child has during reading instruction. Supplementary instruction can be a
significant and targeted enhancement of classroom instruction” (National
Research Council, 1998, p. 26).

“Consistent with the view that reading develops under the influence of many early
experiences, it is the committee’s judgment that deferring intervention until third
or fourth grade should be avoided at all costs” (National Research Council, 1998,
p. 236).
KEY TERMINOLOGY
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 2 (1 of 4)

Key Terminology

Effective Reading Instruction

Explicit and systematic teaching of beginning reading knowledge and skills
within an overall program of purposeful, engaging reading and writing

Explicit and systematic instruction

Planned, purposeful, and visible instruction

• Adapts the pacing, content, and emphasis of instruction for individuals and
groups using classroom-based instructional assessments
• Makes choices that are guided by ongoing progress monitoring of the
critical skills and attitudes needed by students at each stage of reading
development

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemes
Smallest units of sound in spoken language

• Example: Map has 3 phonemes. /m/ /a/ /p/ When we pronounce the word,
map, there is no break between the sound segments. But, we can prove
that there are 3 distinct phonemes in map by comparing it to other words.
When we compare map to lap, we hear that these words differ in the initial
phoneme; when we compare map to mat we hear that these words differ
in the final phoneme; and when we compare map to mop, we hear that
these words differ in the medial phoneme

Phonemic awareness
Ability to focus on and manipulate sounds (phonemes) in spoken words

• Phonemic awareness instruction is not the same as phonics (the

understanding that there is a predicable relationship between phonemes
and the letters that represent the sounds in written language)
• Phonemic awareness is not the same as phonological awareness:
Phonological awareness is a more encompassing term that refers to
various types of awareness, including phonemic awareness, as well as an
awareness of larger spoken units, such as syllables and rhyming words

Phonological awareness
General understanding of the sound structure of words, including rhymes,
syllables, and phonemes
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 2 (2 of 4)

Phonics and Word Study

Systematic phonics
An instructional approach that explicitly teaches a sequential set of phonics
elements

• For example, separates the introduction of easily confused sounds (e.g.,

b, d, e, I) and begins with a set of letter sounds that can be used to make
and read a lot of words (e.g., s, m, t, n, a) before sounds that are less
frequently used (e.g., z, q)

Alphabetic principle
An understanding that the sounds (phonemes) in spoken language are
represented in a sequential order by letters (graphemes) in written language

Graphemes
Letters or letter combinations that represent a phoneme, such as e, ei, igh

Letter-sound correspondences
Refers to letters and letter combinations and their most common sounds (also
referred to as letter sounds, sound-symbol correspondences, letter-sound
relations or associations, letter-sound connections)

Decoding
Ability to translate a word from print to speech, usually by employing
knowledge of letter-sound correspondences (also referred to as blending and
sounding out)

Decodable texts
Engaging and coherent texts in which most of the words are comprised of an
accumulating sequence of letter-sound correspondences being taught

Spelling and Writing

Morphemes
Smallest meaningful units of language, such as prefixes, suffixes, base or
root words
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 2 (3 of 4)

Fluency
Reading accurately, quickly and with expression

Automaticity
Implies a quick and accurate level of recognition that occurs with little
conscious attention, such as the ability to quickly and accurately associate
sounds with letters in order to read words

Repeated reading or guided repeated oral reading

Students orally reread words and/or passages approximately 3 or 4 times with
guidance and feedback

Text Comprehension
The ability to understand or get meaning from text

Text
Refers to any type of written material (e.g., short story, chapter in a book,
article in a newspaper)

Narrative text
Tell stories that generally follow a familiar story structure using story elements
such as characters, plot, and theme

Expository text
Explain information or tell about topics in different ways, such as
comparison/contrast, description, and cause/effect (e.g., content area
textbooks)

Strategies
Conscious plans or procedures (e.g., comprehension strategies are
conscious plans or procedures that good, skilled readers use to help them be
aware of how well they are comprehending as they read and write)

Vocabulary
Component of both oral and written language that includes the body of words
students must know if they are to read increasingly demanding text with
fluency and comprehension
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 2 (4 of 4)

Grouping

Flexible grouping
Grouping students according to instructional needs, prior knowledge, and
interests; providing opportunities for students to be members of more than
one group

Maximizing Student Learning

Maximized student engagement

Planned instructional time that overtly engages students in academic tasks
such as reading, writing, and discussing to the greatest extent possible

• Includes a quick rather than leisurely pace of instruction and a high rate of
interaction with the teacher

Effective Reading Interventions

Interventions
Additional, targeted, and intensive instruction provided to students who are
struggling with learning to read and write
A SUMMARY CHECKLIST FOR ADMINISTRATORS

AND TEACHERS EVALUATING A READING

INSTRUCTION PROGRAM
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 4 (1 of 5)

Effective Reading Instruction

Summary Checklist
Phonemic Awareness Instruction
What Students Need to Learn How We Teach It Comments
• That spoken words consist of • Provide explicit and
individual sounds or systematic instruction
phonemes focusing on only one or two
phonemic awareness skills,
• How words can be such as segmenting and
segmented (pulled apart) into blending
sounds, and how these
sounds can be blended (put • Link sounds to letters as
back together) and soon as possible
manipulated (added, deleted,
and substituted) • Use systematic classroom-
based instructional
• How to use their phonemic assessment to inform
awareness to blend sounds instruction
to read words and to
segment sounds in words to
spell them

Phonics and Word Study Instruction

What Students Need to Learn How We Teach It Comments
• Accurate and rapid • Provide explicit, systematic
identification of the letters of phonics instruction that
the alphabet teaches a set of letter-sound
relations
• The alphabetic principle (an
understanding that the • Provide explicit instruction in
sequence of sounds or blending sounds to read
phonemes in a spoken word words
are represented by letters in
a written word) • Include practice in reading
texts that are written for
• Phonics elements (e.g., students to use their phonics
letter-sound knowledge to decode and
correspondences, spelling read words
patterns, syllables, and
meaningful word parts) • Give substantial practice for
children to apply phonics as
• How to apply phonics they spell words
elements as they read and
write • Use systematic classroom-
based instructional
assessment to inform
instruction
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 4 (2 of 5)

Effective Reading Instruction

Summary Checklist
Spelling and Writing Instruction
What Students Need to Learn How We Teach It Comments
• How to remember and • Provide explicit and
reproduce exact letter systematic spelling
patterns (e.g., letter-sound instruction to reinforce and
correspondences, spelling extend students’ growing
patterns, syllables, and knowledge about reading
meaningful word parts)
• Provide opportunities for
• How to segment sounds in manipulating, categorizing,
words to spell them and examining the
similarities and differences in
• How to notice reliable words
spelling patterns and
generalizations • Provide daily opportunities to
increase writing accuracy
• Rapid, accurate letter and speed
formation
• Model various types of
• How to write for different writing and help children to
purposes and audiences in apply spelling and reading
various forms knowledge in purposeful
writing

• Integrate writing across the

curriculum

• Use systematic classroom-

based instructional
assessment to inform
instruction
Fluency
What Students Need to Learn How We Teach It Comments
• How to decode words (in • Provide opportunities for
isolation and in connected guided oral repeated
text) reading that includes
support and feedback from
• How to automatically teachers, peers, and/or
recognize words (accurately parents
and quickly with little
• Match reading texts and
attention or effort)
instruction to individual
students
• How to increase speed (or
rate) of reading while • Apply systematic
maintaining accuracy classroom-based
instructional assessment to
monitor student progress in
both rate and accuracy
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 4 (3 of 5)

Effective Reading Instruction

Summary Checklist
Text Comprehension Instruction
What Students Need to Learn How We Teach It Comments
• How to read both narrative • Explicitly explain, model,
and expository texts and teach comprehension
strategies, such as
• How to understand and previewing and
remember what they read summarizing text
• Provide comprehension
• How to relate their own
instruction before, during,
knowledge or experiences to
and after reading narrative
text
and expository texts
• How to use comprehension • Promote thinking and
strategies to improve their extended discourse by
comprehension asking questions and
encouraging student
• How to communicate with questions and discussions
others about what they read
• Provide extended
opportunities for English
language learners to
participate
• Use systematic classroom-
based instructional
assessment to inform
instruction
Vocabulary Instruction
What Students Need to Learn How We Teach It Comments
• The meanings for most of • Provide opportunities for
the words in a text so they students to receive direct,
can understand what they explicit instruction in the
read meanings of words and in
word learning strategies
• How to apply a variety of • Provide many opportunities
strategies to learn word for students to read in and
meanings out of school
• How to make connections • Engage children in daily
between words and interactions that promote
concepts using new vocabulary in
both oral and written
• How to accurately use language
words in oral and written • Enrich and expand the
language vocabulary knowledge of
English language learners
• Actively involve students in
making connections
between concepts and
words
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 4 (4 of 5)

Effective Reading Instruction

Summary Checklist

Features of Effective Instruction

Grouping Comments
• Alternate grouping formats (e.g., one-on-one, pairs, small
group, whole group) for different instructional purposes and to
meet students’ needs

• Use small, same-ability groups, continually monitor student

progress, and regroup to reflect students’ knowledge and skills

• When students experience difficulties, reteach knowledge and

skills that have the highest impact on learning to read

• Use flexible grouping that provides opportunities for students to

be members of more than one group

• Incorporate peer tutoring; pair students together (e.g., less

proficient reader with a more proficient reader)

Maximizing Student Learning

• Every minute counts!

• Actively engage children:

• Vary presentation, format, and ways students can

participate in instruction

• Reduce teacher talk

• Use an appropriate level of instructional materials

• Adapt the pacing, content, and emphasis of instruction for

individuals and groups of children, including English
language learners and those having difficulty learning to
read
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 4 (5 of 5)

Effective Reading Instruction

Summary Checklist

Effective Reading Interventions

What Struggling Readers How We Teach Struggling Comments

Need to Learn Readers
• Knowledge and skills that • Group students into
have the highest impact on groups of 3-5 according to
learning to read their instructional needs

• Provide targeted
instruction 3 to 5 times
per week

• Assure additional
instruction aligns with
core reading instruction

• Provide ongoing and

systematic corrective
feedback to students

• Provide extended practice

in the critical elements of
reading instruction based
on students’ needs

• Increase time for word

study and build fluency to
improve automatic word
recognition and rate of
reading

• Use systematic
classroom-based
instructional assessment
to document student
growth and inform
instruction
REFERENCES
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 5 (1 of 4)

Effective Reading Instruction References

Adams, M. J. (2001). Alphabetic anxiety and explicit, systematic phonics

instruction: A cognitive science perspective. In S. B. Neuman & D. K.
Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research (pp. 66-80). New
York: Guilford Press.
Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print.

Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Adams, M.J., Treiman, R. & Pressley, M. (1998). Reading, writing, and literacy.

In I.E. Sigel & K.A. Renninger (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology,

Vol. 4. Child psychology into practice ( 5th ed., pp. 275-355). New York:

Wiley.

Beck, I.L. & McKeown, M.G. (1991). Conditions of vocabulary acquisition. In

P. D. Pearson (Ed.), The handbook of reading research: Vol. 2 (pp. 789-

814). New York: Longman Press.

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. (2001). Put reading

first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read. Jessup,

MD: The Partnership for Reading.

Education Research: Is what we don’t know hurting our children? Hearings

before the Subcommittee on Basic Research, of the House Science

Committee, 105th Cong. (1999) (testimony of G. Reid Lyon). Retrieved

November 30, 2001 from http://www.nichd.nih.gov/

Elbaum, B., Vaughn, S., Hughes, M., Moody, S. W., & Schumm, J. S. (2000).
How reading outcomes of students with disabilities are related to
instructional grouping formats: A meta-analytical review. In R. Gersten, E.
Effective Reading Instruction Resource 5 (2 of 4)

Schiller, & S. Vaughn (Eds.), Contemporary special education research

(pp. 107-124). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Fletcher, J. M., & Lyon, G. R. (1998). Reading: A research based approach. In

W. M. Evers (Ed.), What’s gone wrong in America’s classrooms (pp. 49-

90). Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.

Learning First Alliance. (2000). Every child reading: A professional development

guide. Baltimore: Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Development.

Lou, Y., Abrami, P. C., Spence, J. C., Poulsen, C., Chambers, B., & d’Appolonia,

S. (1996). Within-class grouping: A meta-analysis. Review of

Educational Research, 66(4), 423-458.

Lyon, G. R. & Kameenui, E. J. (2001). National Institute of Child Health and

Human Development (NICHD) Research Support the America Reads

Challenge. Retrieved January 3, 2002 from the National Institute of Child

Health and Human Development (NICHD) Web site:

http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/nichd.html

National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based

assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its

implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute of

Child Health and Human Development.

National Research Council. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young

children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. HR1, 107th Cong. (2001). Retrieved January 4,

2002 from http://www.ed.gov/inits/ncib/index.html

Effective Reading Instruction Resource 5 (3 of 4)

Neuman, S. B. (2001). The role of knowledge in early literacy. Reading Research

Quarterly, 36(4), 468-475.

Pressley, M. (2000). What should comprehension instruction be the instruction

of? In M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P. D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook

of reading research: Vol. 3 (pp. 545-562). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Rosenshine, B. (1997). Advances in research on instruction. In J. W. Lloyd, E. J.

Kameenui, & D. Chard (Eds.), Issues in educating students with

disabilities. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Share, D. & Stanovich, K. E. (1995). Cognitive processes in early reading

development: Accommodating individual differences into a mode of

acquisition. Issues in Education: Contributions from Educational

Psychology, 1, 1-57.

Simmons, D.C. & Kameenui, E. J. (Eds). (1998). What reading research tells us

about children with diverse learning needs: Bases and basics. Mahwah,

NJ: Erlbaum.

Vaughn, S., Gersten, R., & Chard, D. J. (2000). The underlying message in LD

intervention research: Findings from research syntheses. Exceptional

Children, 67, 99-114.

Vaughn, S., Hughes, M. T., Moody, S. W., & Elbaum, B. (2001). Instructional

grouping for reading for students with learning disabilities: Implications for

practice. Intervention in School and Clinic, 35, 131-137.

Vaughn, S., Thompson, S. L., Kouzekanani, K. Bryant, D., & Dickson, S.

(February, 2001). Grouping for reading instruction: Students with reading

Effective Reading Instruction Resource 5 (4 of 4)

difficulties who are monolingual English speakers or English language

learners. Pacific Coast Research Conference, LaJolla, CA.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of the higher

psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

A READING RESEARCH SAMPLER OFFERING

SELECTED ABSTRACTS OF STUDIES REFERENCED BY

THE NATIONAL READING PANEL IN ITS ANALYSIS

OF EXISTING READING RESEARCH

A Reading Research Sampler
Selected abstracts of research studies
that support the major findings of the National Reading Panel

The National Reading Panel (NRP) was convened to assess the status of research-based
knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches to teaching children to read. The
research studies cited in this document were drawn from the 2000 report of the NRP, Teaching
Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on
Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction – Reports of the Subgroups.

The panel members used the National Research Council’s Preventing Reading Difficulties in
Young Children (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998) as the foundation for their work. In order to build
upon the basic knowledge provided by Preventing Reading Difficulties…, the NRP first developed
an objective research methodology that would allow them to ask questions about “what works best”
in teaching children to read. The methodology included evidence-based analysis of both
experimental and quasi-experimental research on selected topics considered to be key in teaching
children to read.

The five instructional topics studied included phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary
and text comprehension. Teacher education and computer technology were also included but will
not be discussed here.

While there are many types of research addressing reading instruction, in order to make a claim
that an instructional practice is causally linked to a particular outcome, a high standard of evidence
is required. The panel determined that experimental and quasi-experimental studies of moderate
to high quality were to comprise the pool of studies they would examine. If a research topic yielded
too few high quality studies, then correlational or descriptive studies that concurred with the
experimental findings were included in order that a causal claim could be supported. Whenever
possible, meta-analyses were conducted and effect sizes calculated for each intervention or
condition included in the study. The effect size provides a standard metric to reflect the treatment
effect.

There are more than 400 studies cited in the NRP, far too many to include in a brief summary of
the research. It is important for teachers, parents and administrators to understand what the
studies actually say about “what works” best in teaching children to read. The following section
includes a sample of abstracts (or summaries) of studies included in each of the five instructional
topic sections. These research studies were chosen as representing some of the important
findings in each of the instructional content areas. These abstracts will help the reader become
more aware of the studies included in the work of the NRP and how the findings from these studies
provide the basis for the implications for reading instruction suggested by the NRP.
1
Selected studies on phonemic awareness

Kindergarten teachers develop phoneme awareness in low-income, inner-city classrooms:

Does it make a difference?

Kindergarten teachers and their teaching assistants in four low-income, inner-city schools in
upstate New York participated in a study to provide phoneme awareness activities to 84 children in
small groups in the regular classroom during the regular school day. The study compared the
phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge, and the reading and spelling skills of the children
after the 11-week intervention with those of 75 students in a control group. The intervention
treatment included phoneme segmentation activities, segmentation-related activities and direct
instruction in letter names and letter sounds.

The results of this study confirmed and extended results of previous research, which found that
training kindergarten children in phoneme awareness has a positive influence on early reading
skills and developmental spelling. The treatment children significantly outperformed the control
group students on tests of phoneme segmentation, letter name knowledge, and letter sound
knowledge. They also read significantly more phonetically regular words and nonwords and
demonstrated a more sophisticated level of developmental spelling than the control group students.

The authors point out the importance of the fact that these activities were carried out with children
in regular classrooms by regular kindergarten teachers and teaching assistants using
manipulatives and language games easily available.

Author(s) Blachman, B.A., Ball, E.W., Black, R.S., & Tangel, D.M.
Publication date 1994
Source: Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 6 (1), pp 1-18

Effects of an extensive program for stimulating phonological awareness in preschool

children

A longitudinal study in Denmark beginning in 1985 was designed to evaluate the effects of a
program of metalinguistic games and exercises to stimulate preschool children’s discovery of the
phonological structure of language. Following an eight-month training program of daily sessions of
15-20 minutes, 255 pre-school children in the experimental group and 155 in the control group
were posttested with the same instruments used for the pretest. The children were tested again for
the level of phonological awareness at the beginning of Grade 1, and reading and spelling
assessments were repeated in the middle of Grade 2.

The design of the study allowed assessment of specific training effects: the program showed no
significant effect on functional linguistic skills such as comprehension of oral instructions or
vocabulary, or on the informal learning of letter names. It did show small but significant effects on

2
rhyming tasks and on word and syllable awareness, and the effects on the ability to perform
phonemic tasks were quite dramatic.

The results of the study indicate that not only can phonological awareness be developed before
reading ability and independently of it, but that this phonological awareness aids in later reading
skills acquisition. The authors concluded that phonological skill can be developed outside the
context of formal reading instruction, although the crucial factor appears to be explicit instruction
rather than specific encounters with the letters of the alphabet. The effect seems to be a lasting
one, transferring to new tasks and new formats. Children receiving the experimental instruction
appeared to have an advantage in reading and spelling when they entered Grade 1, due to the
acquired skill in phonemic segmentation.

Author(s) Lundberg, I., Frost, J., Petersen, O.

Publication date 1988
Source : Reading Research Quarterly, 23 (3), pp 263-284

Transfer among phonological tasks in kindergarten: Essential instructional content

A study was conducted to test the effects of two variations of phonological instruction for 66
kindergarten children with very low phonological skill levels and other risk factors that might prohibit
acquisition of reading during the kindergarten years (e.g., low receptive language or special
education classification). The students were placed in three treatment groups, using 1) auditory
blending and segmenting with limited letter-sound correspondences, 2) a global array of
phonological tasks, with letter-sound correspondences, or 3) only letter-sound instructions.

Children in both treatment groups showed improved phonological abilities, which transferred to a
reading analog task. Increased phonological awareness had no effect on letter-naming ability nor
was the additional instruction in letters and their sounds sufficient to boost low-skilled children to
the level of their high-skilled peers in letter-naming. Despite the differences in instruction content,
children in both treatment groups performed comparably on phonological measures and transfer of
learned skills to the LAC. Although treated children demonstrated phonological abilities beyond
blending and segmenting, these other skills did not appear to contribute to the simple kind of
reading required for the analog. This finding suggested that when the purpose of phonological
instruction is to improve reading acquisition, concentrating the phonological teaching efforts only on
blending and segmenting may be sufficient.

Author(s) O'Connor, R. E. & Jenkins, J. & Slocum, T.A.

Publication date 1995
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, pp 202-217

3
Effects of two types of phonological awareness training on word learning in kindergarten
children

A repeated-measures design using two experimental training conditions and a language-

experience training control investigated the effectiveness of phonological awareness training on
word learning involving 48 kindergarten children. The AB group received phonological-awareness
training that included analysis (segmenting) and synthesis (blending) activities. The B group
received training in only blending activities, and the control group C students were taught using a
variety of meaning-oriented language-experience activities. Small group training sessions were
held for all the groups, three times per week for 7-8 weeks.

The results indicated that the group receiving both segmenting and blending skills improved
significantly on both types of skills. The blending-only group did not show significant improvements
in segmenting skills compared with the control group, but they did learn to blend phonemes into
words with a high degree of proficiency. However, these blending skills were not sufficient to make
a significant difference in their word-learning abilities compared to the control group. Only the AB
group students were able to achieve statistically significant improvements in speed of acquisition of
new word pronunciations.

Author(s) Torgesen, J.K., Morgan, S.T., & Davis, C.

Publication date 1992
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology, 84 (3), pp 364-370

Phonological coding, phonological awareness, and reading ability:

Evidence from a longitudinal and experimental study

Two studies were conducted to investigate whether phonological coding deficits are causally
related to difficulties in learning to read. Experiment 1 was a longitudinal study designed to develop
a screening battery to identify kindergarteners who might have difficulty in acquiring skills in
reading. It was administered to 295 kindergarteners randomly selected from suburban, urban, and
rural areas near Albany, New York. The reading readiness battery included seven subtests, five of
which evaluated phonological skills: 1) rhyming, 2) letter names, 3) sound-letter, consonants, 4)
letter-sound, consonants, 5) initial consonant substitution, 6) letter-sound, vowels, and 7) sight
words to identify. Findings showed the tests which were most highly and most reliably correlated
with oral reading ability were those which depended heavily on phonological coding and phonemic
segmentation ability (e.g. letter names, letter sounds etc), even after controlling for intelligence.

Experiment 2 was designed 1) to determine whether word identification problems are caused by
difficulty in phonological coding or by difficulty in cross-referencing and integrating visual and
verbal counterparts of print, 2) to examine the relative importance of phonemic segmentation and
name encoding and retrieval in learning to identify printed words, and 3) to evaluate whether facility
in naming and facility in phonemic segmentation are complementary skills. Participants were 75
students each of second-grade poor readers, second-grade normal reader, sixth-grade poor
readers, and sixth-grade normal readers, who were randomly assigned to one of five treatment
conditions: 1) phonemic segmentation training, 2) response acquisition, 3) phonemic segmentation
training and response acquisition, 4) control group given both the training and transfer subtests
used as dependent measures, and 5) control group given only the transfer subtest. Results
4
indicated strong evidence that training in phonemic segmentation has a salutary effect on the
acquisition of skill in word identification for poor as well as normal readers. The pattern of results
on the independent measures of phonemic segmentation, phonetic decoding, and phonological
coding ability closely paralleled the pattern of results on the word identification/code acquisition
measures. This was found to be the case for children in the poor reader groups as well as for
children in the normal reader groups.

The authors concluded that phonologic coding deficits constitute a major source of reading
difficulty in beginning readers, although there was suggestive evidence that semantic and syntactic
deficits also may cause such difficulty.

Author(s) Vellutino, F., & Scanlon, D.

Publication date 1987
Source: Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 33 (3), pp 321-363

5
Selected studies on Phonics

Effects of instruction on beginning reading skills in children at risk for reading disability

A study was conducted to investigate the impact of two contrasting instructional methods on the
acquisition of word identification and decoding skills in a group of 48 children identified as at risk for
reading disability at the end of their kindergarten year. The children were randomly assigned for the
next two years to either a structured phonics code-emphasis approach or to an approach
emphasizing use of context. Both the Code and Context treatment conditions contained a phonics
component; the crucial difference was not in the presence or absence of phonic instruction but in
the methods (initial presentation, sequence, emphasis, etc.) used in teaching decoding skills.

Children in the Code group uniformly outperformed the Context group on all achievement
measures at the end of first and second grade. At the end of first grade, statistically significant
differences between groups were found on nonword reading and spelling of phonetically regular
words. At the end of second grade, significant differences were found in reading of polysyllabic real
words and decoding of monosyllabic and polysyllabic nonsense words.

The authors concluded that reading instruction plays an important role in acquisition of early
reading skills and that structured, systematic phonics instruction results in more favorable outcome
than does a context emphasis approach.

Author(s) Brown, I.S., & Felton, R.H.

Publication date 1990
Source: Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2 (3), pp 223-241

The role of instruction in learning to read: Preventing reading failure in at-risk children

A study was conducted with 285 Title I students in first and second grade in an urban Texas school
district to determine the best of three instructional techniques for teaching reading. The students
were placed in one of three types of classroom reading programs: 1) direct instruction in letter-
sound correspondence practiced in decodable text (direct code), 2) less direct instruction in
systematic sound-spelling patterns embedded in connected text (embedded code), and 3) implicit
instruction in the alphabetic code while reading connected text (implicit code).

The results indicated that the direct code instruction improved word reading and word recognition
skills more than the implicit code instruction. Effects of the type of instruction on word recognition
were moderated by the initial levels of phonological processing and were most apparent in children
with poorer initial phonological processing skills. Reading comprehension results paralleled those
for word recognition but to a lesser extent. There was no significant difference among the groups in
spelling achievement or in vocabulary building.

6
The authors concluded the reading instructional programs that emphasize explicit instruction in the
alphabetic principal provided definite advantages for at-risk students.

Author(s) Foorman, B.R., Francis, D.J., Fletcher, J.M., Schatschneider, C., & Mehta, P.
Publication date 1998
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology, 90 (1), pp 37-55

The effect of phonemic awareness on the literacy development of first grade children in a
traditional or a whole language classroom

A study was conducted to examine phonemic awareness and whole language instruction in the
context of determining the impact on 1) decoding skills, 2) spelling skills, and 3) writing fluency of
children with various levels of phonemic awareness. Children in a first-grade whole language
instruction classroom were taught using the shared-book approach with numerous writing activities.
Children in another first-grade classroom received traditional instruction from a basal reading
program with a skills emphasis. The reading curriculum included phonics concepts as well as
specific letter-sound correspondences, practiced in isolation in basal reading workbooks; writing
opportunities were limited to responses on commercially prepared worksheets and structured
spelling instruction included weekly spelling tests from word lists. All of the children were tested to
determine phonemic awareness prior to the study and the six highest and six lowest scoring
children in each classroom were targeted as high and low phonemic awareness groups.

Beginning-of-the-year level of phonemic awareness proved of more importance in this study than
method of instruction in the children’s literacy acquisition; those high in phonemic awareness at the
beginning of the study did well while those with low phonemic awareness achieved at a
significantly lower level on all measures. While whole-language students did not receive direct
phonics instruction, they appeared to use letter-sound correspondence to decode words at a level
equal to those children in the traditional direct instruction. The students in the whole language
classroom wrote more words and used more unique words in their compositions than did the
children in the traditional classroom, but the children in the traditional classroom were more
accurate spellers.

Author(s) Griffith, P.L., Klesius, J.P., Kromey, J.D.

Publication date 1992
Source: Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 6 (2), pp 85-92

Preventing reading failure in young children with phonological processing disabilities:

Group and individual responses to instruction

A Florida study evaluated three programs which involved the degree of explicitness of instruction in
phonological awareness and phonemic reading skills. The 180 students participating in the study
were in the bottom 12% of the pretested children for phonological skills. One approach was
designed to create the maximum strength in phonemic decoding while another emphasized the
active coordination of less well-developed phonemic reading skills with clues from context as a
means of accurately reading words in text and constructing meaning. A third intervention was
designed to coordinate with regular classroom reading instruction. The children in the two
7
treatment groups received four 20-minute sessions of one-to-one instruction per week from the
second semester kindergarten through second grade. The phonological processing skill group
devoted 80% of their time on word level instruction while the explicit and intensive instruction in
phonemic decoding group spent 43% of their time on it.

The children in the phonological processing skills group had significantly stronger skills in
phonological awareness, phonemic decoding, and untimed, context-free word reading. They also
outperformed either group on word level reading skills. However, there was no reliable difference in
reading comprehension between the phonological processing group and the explicit and intensive
instruction group and little difference over the control group.

The authors concluded that one-to-one instruction in reading may not have a significant impact on
the core word level reading problems of at-risk children unless it contains very explicit and
intensive instruction in phonemic awareness and phonemic decoding skills. However, based on the
findings that there was little difference in reading comprehension among the groups, the authors
would not assert that any one of the instructional approaches used in the study was more effective
than the others.

Author(s) Torgesen, J.K., Wagner, R.K., Rashotte, C.A., Rose, E., Lindamood, P.,
Conway, T., Garvan, C.
Publication date 1999
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology, 91 (4), pp 579-593

8
Selected studies on fluency

The effect of reading library books at different levels of difficulty upon gain in reading ability

A study of 43 students in Grades 3, 4, and 5, during a six-week summer reading program,

attempted to determine whether reading library books at a slightly more difficult reading level or
slightly below reading level made a difference in reading improvement. The findings from the study
indicated there was no evidence of gain by either group.

A second study was then instigated to determine whether the lack of gain was due to a
measurement artifact. The same group of students was tested again in the fall, using an efficiency
test to determine both accuracy and rate. The results indicated minimal or nonexistent efficiency
levels.

Before a conclusion was reached that there was no support to the hypotheses of the original
research, a third study was conducted to obtain an objective measure of the “difficulty level” of the
books read during the summer. A computer program was written to determine the DRP score and
its corresponding GE score. The results indicated that the main difference between the books read
by the two groups was length rather than difficulty level. All students read books at approximately
the same level of difficulty, except that the experimental group read longer books. Therefore, the
only conclusion to be drawn from the study was that there was no evidence that students who read
relatively easy library books for six weeks increased their reading level, vocabulary, rate, or
efficiency.

Author(s) Carver, R.P., & Leibert, R.E.

Publication date 1995
Source: Reading Research Quarterly, 30 (1), pp 26-48

Effects of fluency development on urban second-grade readers

A model of fluency instruction was developed that 1) could be readily integrated into the regular
reading curriculum, 2) employed an extensive array of principles implemented over the course of a
school year, and 3) used several quantifiable measures of reading performance to evaluate the
treatment. The fluency development lesson (FDL) is a 10-15 minute instructional activity that
incorporates several key principles of effective fluency instruction. A study was conducted to
implement and evaluate this FDL model in two second-grade classrooms. A total of 28
experimental subjects and 26 control participants were evaluated following the six-month
implementation period.

The FDL experimental approach resulted in fluency gains for students, and teacher response was
positive.

Author(s) Rasinski, T.V., Padak, N., Linek, W., & Sturtevant, E.

Publication date 1994
Source: Journal of Educational Research, 87 (3), pp 158-165

9
Effects of repeated reading on second-grade transitional readers' fluency and
comprehension

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of repeated reading on 17 second-grade

transitional readers’ oral reading performance with practice and unpracticed passages. A
“transitional” reader is one who is an adequate decoder but a slow, halting reader. The experiment
used a time-series design, using two conditions: a read-along and an independent practice
procedure. The students were then scored on rate, accuracy, comprehension, and prosodic
reading (reading in meaningful phrases) measures.

The findings of the study showed that in all measures of both practiced and unpracticed passages
there was significant improvement by repeated reading, regardless of the training procedure used.
A second finding was that practice of one story was not as effective as the combined practice of
several stories. Even when content, sentence structure, and level of difficulty were similar and
vocabulary overlap high, repeated reading of the first half of a story did not result in consistent
gains in accuracy and comprehension of the second half of the story; only speed and prosodic
reading indicators were positively affected. Importantly, there was a cumulative practice effect in
which students made significant gains from practiced to new unpracticed passages. Prosodic
reading was most facilitated by the read-along procedure.

Author(s) Dowhower, S.L.

Publication date 1987
Source: Reading Research Quarterly, 22 (2), pp 389-406

Assisted reading practice: Effects on performance for poor readers in grades 3 and 4

A Canadian study of 29 at-risk third- and fourth-graders in two experimental groups and one control
group over a four-month period investigated the effects of assisted reading practices and
compared more and less labor-intensive methods of providing assistance. The teacher-assisted
group read basal materials orally and received assistance with word identification from the teacher.
The tape-assisted group read while listening to a tape recorder whose speed they could control.

Children in the tape-assisted group read nearly twice the amount of text as children in the teacher-
assisted group. Both groups showed similar large gains in speed, accuracy, and comprehension
over the control group. The tape-assisted group also showed significant gains in oral
comprehension. However, the experimental groups’ letter-naming speed, decoding, and reading
speed for words out of text did not show significant improvement over the control group.

The main conclusion was that assisted reading practice leads to substantial gains in reading
comprehension. In addition, larger gains in reading comprehension were apparent when there was
a large pretreatment difference between listening comprehension and reading comprehension. The
authors noted that this supports Chall’s (1983) theory that in the early years children can
comprehend more by listening than by reading.

10
Author(s) Shany, M.T., & Biemiller, A.
Publication date 1995
Source: Reading Research Quarterly, 30 (3), pp 382-395

Effects of repeated readings on instructional-and mastery-level readers

A study investigated the effects of repeated readings for instructional- and mastery-level readers as
well as learning-disabled and non-disabled instructional-level readers. Using 25 matched pairs of
third- through fifth-grade students, the study compared the effects of one and three readings on
reading fluency and comprehension. In both the experimental group and the control group, the 17
instructional-level students read screening passages at instructional level and the 8 mastery-level
students read them at the mastery level. Then all the participants read two additional passages,
one passage once and one three times.

Reading rate increased significantly from one to three readings, an occurrence that brought
instructional-level readers to near mastery-level performance. Also, recall was significantly greater
after three readings than after one reading. Mastery-level readers benefited from repeated
readings in the same ways as the instructional-level readers.

The authors concluded that the method of repeated readings is equally effective for LD and non-
disabled readers, regardless of functional level, and for students at mastery and instructional
levels, regardless of classification.

Author(s) Sindelar, P.T., Monda, L.E., & O'Shea, L.J.

Publication date 1990
Source: Journal of Educational Research, 83 (4), pp 220-226

11
Selected studies on vocabulary

Effects of instruction in deriving word meaning from context: A meta-analysis

A study was conducted to examine the effects of instruction in deriving word meaning from context
during reading. Criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis were that the treatment must aim
specifically at enhancing the skill of deliberately deriving word meaning from context during
reading, this skill must be adequately measured at the posttest, and only studies with a control
group design were included. Twelve studies were finally included in the meta-analysis; the total
number of experimental treatments was 21.

The overall outcome of the meta-analysis was positive with a significant medium effect size of
d=0.43. Findings indicated that none of the methodological predictors reduced heterogeneity
significantly, implying that there is no systematic effect of any methodological characteristic on
treatment outcome. Of the educational setting variables, only class size produced a significant
effect, although small and negative. Clue instruction appeared to be more effective than other
instruction types or practice alone.

The authors concluded from the meta-analysis that deliberately deriving word meaning from
context is amenable to instruction and the effect of even relatively short instruction is rewarding.

Author(s) Fukkink, R.G., & de Glopper, K.

Publication date 1998
Source: Review of Educational Research, 68 (4), pp 450-469

Teaching vocabulary through familiar associations and contexts

A study involving 113 third graders and 108 fifth graders evaluated the effectiveness of an
interactive model of cognitive development—one that used prior knowledge to learn new word
meanings. The children were taught 96 most-often missed words from a 150-word vocabulary list.
Using one of four methods, they were told to: 1) memorize pairings to familiar words (association),
2) compile a list of words containing one target word and three familiar words (categorizing), 3)
write the target words in meaningful three-sentence passages (concept development), or 4) look up
target words in the dictionary, write definitions, and write sentences using the new word.

A single-factor, repeated measures analysis of variance was used to determine differences in the
four vocabulary methods’ results. Good readers performed significantly better than poor readers
regardless of the method used. However, the context method of learning proved consistently more
effective, even for the poorest readers.

12
The authors therefore concluded that the most effective means of teaching vocabulary is to teach
word meanings in an appropriate contextual setting which is familiar to the student.

Author(s) Gipe, J.P., & Arnold, R.D.

Publication date 1979
Source: Journal of Reading Behavior, 11 (3), pp 281-285

Growth of reading vocabulary in diverse elementary schools: Decoding and word meaning

The growth of reading vocabulary was examined through the first four grades for students at three
widely disparate schools: School A (a suburban school enrolling White students who spoke
standard English), School B (an inner-city school enrolling Black, dialect-speaking students), and
School C (a semirural school enrolling economically disadvantaged, dialect-speaking Asian/Pacific
students). Reading vocabulary for the three schools was assessed with a multiple-choice test,
administered to 47 to 91 students at each grade level, and 288 individuals were interviewed to
determine 1) the proportion of test words that students could decode and 2) the proportion of
decoded words with known meanings.

The results showed that reading vocabularies of elementary students are large and that they grow
quite rapidly. However, the gaps between more and less advantaged students were substantial.
School A students (mainstream students) learned many more words, decoded more words, and
knew more word meanings than did minority students in Schools B and C. The gap between
mainstream and disadvantaged students was largest for infrequent words.

The authors concluded that the extent to which reading ability, SES, or exposure to a nonstandard
dialect affect the amount of learning that can occur from reading unfamiliar words in context is an
important issue. The data seemed to indicate that direct instruction in decoding and/or individual
word meanings is not sufficient to assist minority students. They suggest: 1) some of the word
meanings that minority students need to learn should be taught directly, 2) minority students should
be encouraged to read more, and 3) they should be motivated and helped to develop strategies for
learning words on their own.

Author(s) White, T.G., Graves, M.F., & Slater, W.H.

Publication date 1990
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology, 82 (2), pp 281-290

The effects of vocabulary instruction: A model-based meta-analysis

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the effects of vocabulary preinstruction as a way of

improving reading comprehension and to examine the components of effective vocabulary
instruction. The criteria for studies used in the meta-analysis included all vocabulary instruction
studies suitable for meta-analysis available in April 1985 that used one of two types of control
groups and provided statistical information needed to derive an effect size. A total of 52 studies
were found that met these criteria, making 94 independent method comparisons.
13
Findings indicated that vocabulary instruction does appear to have a significant effect on the
comprehension of passages containing taught words; the effect sizes averaged .97. Vocabulary
instruction also appears to have a slight but significant effect on comprehension of passages not
necessarily containing taught words; this effect was .30 of a standard unit. The meta-analysis also
suggested that the most effective vocabulary teaching methods included both definitional and
contextual information in their programs, involved the students in deeper processing, and gave the
students more than one or two exposures to the to-be-learned words. In addition, the mnemonic
keyword method was found to have reliable effects on recall of definitions and sentence
comprehension.

Author(s) Stahl, S.A., & Fairbanks, M.M.

Publication date 1986
Source: Review of Educational Research, 56 (1), pp 72-110

The differential effect of storybook reading on preschoolers' acquisition of expressive and

receptive vocabulary

Three- and four-year-olds participated in a study to evaluate the effectiveness of storybook reading
on preschoolers’ acquisition of expressive and receptive vocabulary. Thirty children were assigned
in each condition: single-reading, repeated-reading, and questioning. In both the repeated-reading
and the questioning groups, the storybook was read three times. In the questioning group, children
were asked to label target items with the novel words during each reading of the storybook.

The children in the repeated-readings group made more gains in expressive and receptive
vocabulary than those in the single-reading group. The questioning condition produced an
increased acquisition of expressive rather than receptive vocabulary.

The author concluded that the study suggests that children learn from exposure to book reading,
and that adult reading behaviors may have different effects on children’ receptive and expressive
vocabulary.

Author(s) Sénéchal, M.
Publication date 1997
Source: Journal of Child Language, 24 (1), pp 123-138

14
Selected Studies on text comprehension

Informed strategies for learning: A program to improve children's reading awareness and
comprehension

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between metacognition and comprehension
as well as to evaluate the efficacy of an instructional reading program, Informed Strategies for
Learning (ISL), which provides conceptual information about reading strategies directly and
explicitly to children in the classroom as an economical and flexible adjunct to their regular reading
curriculum. Two third-grade and two fifth-grade intact classes received training, while two other
third-grade and two other fifth-grade intact classes served as controls. Strategy training included
three modes of instruction: classroom lessons, bulletin board materials, and suggestions for
classroom teachers on how to use the strategies. The control groups were provided tutoring,
shown movies, and taught group lessons on topics unrelated to reading, such as ecology and
nutrition during the same four-month period of 30-minute group lessons taught twice weekly.

The results indicated that the children who participated in ISL scored significantly better than did
the children in control group classrooms on cloze and error detection tasks. No differences
between groups were found on two standardized tests of reading comprehension.

The authors concluded that children can be taught about the existence and use of reading
strategies through informed, direct instruction in their regular classrooms.

Author(s) Paris, S.G., Cross, D.R., & Lipson, M.Y.

Publication date 1984
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology, 76 (6), pp 1239-1252

Basal reader instruction: Effects of comprehension monitoring training on reading

comprehension, strategy use and attitude

A study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of a metacognitive instructional strategy for use
with basal readers in improving reading comprehension, strategy use, and attitude toward reading.
The experimental treatment, administered to 20 fourth-grade students in a self-contained
classroom (with 11 students in a second self-contained classroom as a control group), was based
on the instructional strategies proposed by Schmitt and Baumann (1986) that describe how
teachers can incorporate the use of comprehension monitoring strategies into the guided reading
phase of basal reader instruction. Specifically, students were taught to 1) activate background
knowledge, 2) make predictions about the content, 3) set purposes for reading, 4) generate
questions, 5) summarize at various points, 6) evaluate and make new predictions, 7) relate new
information to prior knowledge, 8) generate questions, 9) summarize total selection, 10) evaluate
predictions, 11) return to the purpose set for reading, and 12) generate questions for the total
selection. The control group continued with their traditional basal instruction, including round robin
oral reading, seatwork assignments such as dittoed exercises to find the main idea, small group
activities, and periodic questions about content of reading material by the teacher.

15
The results of the eight-month study indicated that children can be taught how to use metacognitive
reading strategies and techniques during basal reading instruction. Average fourth-grade readers
who received metacognitive skills training had greater reading comprehension, greater knowledge
about reading strategies, and more positive attitudes toward reading than children in the control
group.

Author(s) Payne, B.D. & Manning, B.H.

Publication date 1992
Source: Reading Research and Instruction, 32 (1), pp 29-38

How to teach comparison processing to increase children's short-and long-term listening

comprehension monitoring

A study was conducted to determine whether training children to compare different parts of text
improves detection of text errors and whether self-controlled training of comparison produces more
durable use of the strategy. Participants were 192 third graders, who were assigned to one of
eight conditions: three comparison-processing training conditions, two minimal-instruction
conditions, one passive training condition, and two control conditions. The students heard
expository passages, some containing explicit errors, and were asked to judge passage sensibility.

The results indicated that children taught to use a self-instructional routine specifying comparison
of the two most recently presented sentences with each other and with the rest of the passage
monitored comprehension immediately following training and one week later better than did the
students given minimal training. Teaching the two types of comparison without self-instruction
produced only short-term benefits relative to minimal training alternatives.

Author(s) Elliot-Faust, D.J. & Pressley, M.

Publication date 1986
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology, 78 (1), pp 27-33

Reciprocal Teaching: A review of the research

The authors reviewed reciprocal teaching studies, including seven unpublished doctoral
dissertations (see below). Two forms of reciprocal teaching were noted: reciprocal teaching only,
and explicit teaching before reciprocal teaching. The quality of the studies was evaluated by
examining the design (only studies with comparable experimental and control groups),
assessments of student learning, and assessments of the quality of the reciprocal teaching
dialogues.

Overall results indicated that, when standardized tests were used, the reciprocal teaching
treatment was significantly superior to the control treatment in 2 of the 11 studies, with a median
effect size of .32. When experimenter-developed comprehension tests were used, students in the
reciprocal teaching treatment had scores significantly superior to those of the control group in 8 of
16
10 studies, with a median effect size of .88. Also discussed in the review: 1) the role of cognitive
strategies in enhancing comprehension (enabling students to process what they read more deeply,
to make sense of what they read, to be aware of when they did not understand the material, and to
seek additional reading and searching when they encounter comprehension difficulties), 2) most
helpful strategies (more research is needed before a determination can be made, although
question generation and summarization appear to be the strongest), 3) instructional approaches for
teaching cognitive strategies (before, during, or as a general cognitive strategy instruction, in which
the teacher guides the students as they apply the strategy, then gradually withdraws support), 4)
quality of the dialogue in reciprocal teaching (providing scaffolded instruction), and 5) suggestions
for future research and practice.

Unpublished dissertations included in the review:

Brady, P.L., Improving the reading comprehension of middle school students through reciprocal
teaching and semantic mapping strategies. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of
Alaska. 1990.

Fischer Galbert, J. L., An experimental study of reciprocal teaching of expository text with third,
fourth, and fifth-grade students enrolled in Chapter 1 reading. (Third-Grade, Fourth-Grade)
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ball State University, Muncie, IN. 1989.

Jones, M.P., Effects of the reciprocal teaching method on third-graders' decoding and
comprehension abilities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. 1987.

Padron, Y. N., Utilizing cognitive reading strategies to improve English reading comprehension of
Spanish-speaking bilingual students. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Houston.
1985.

Rich, R. Z., The effects of training adult poor readers to use text comprehension strategies.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, New York. 1989.

Shortland-Jones, B., The development and testing of an instructional strategy for improving reading
comprehension based on schema and metacognitive theories. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
University of Oregon. 1986.

Williamson, R.A., The effect of reciprocal teaching on student performance gains in third-grade
basal reading instruction. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. 1989.

Author(s) Rosenshine, B., & Meister, C.

Publication date 1994
Source: Review of Educational Research, 64 (4), pp. 479-530.

Developmental and instructional analysis of children's metacognition and reading

comprehension

An instructional study was designed to investigate the relation between children’s reading
awareness and reading performance. Eight intact classrooms with a total of 87 third graders and
84 fifth graders participated in the study. One third-grade and one fifth-grade class from each of
four schools were randomly assigned to either the treatment or the control condition. The
17
experimental curriculum used was Informed Strategies for Learning (ISL), designed to increase
awareness and use of effective reading strategies.

Results indicated that children in the experimental ISL classes at both grade levels made
significant gains in metacognition and the use of reading strategies compared with children in the
control classes. Cluster analysis was used to identify significant subgroups of children with
markedly different profiles of reading skills, conducted at four time points: third grade pretest, third-
grade posttest, fifth-grade pretest, and fifth-grade posttest. Although there were specific aptitude-
by-treatment interactions, there was a general trend for metacognition and strategic reading to
become more congruent for 8 to 10 years of age.

Author(s) Cross, D.R., & Paris, S.G.

Publication date 1988
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology, 80 (2), pp 131-142

18
References

Snow, C.E., Burns, S.M., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young
children. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read:
An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications
for reading instruction. Reports of the subgroups. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development. NIH Pub. No. 00-4754.

19
A READING RESOURCE SAMPLER ON EARLY

READING OFFERING ABSTRACTS OF STUDIES THAT

HAVE INVESTIGATED ISSUES IN PRESCHOOL

READING PREPARATION PROGRAMS

An Early Reading First Resource Sampler

Selected abstracts of research and research-based resources

that support the Early Reading First Program

The following bibliography represents a small sample of the scientifically based research and
resources available supporting the Early Reading First goals. The list is not exhaustive, and the
Department will be adding other relevant research and resources in the future.

Adams, M.J., Foorman, B.R., Lundberg, I., & Beeler, T. (1998). Phonemic awareness in
young children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

This book addresses the research to practice issue in phonemic awareness and includes
activities that stimulate the development of phonemic awareness in early education programs.
While most teachers are familiar with what the term phonemic awareness means and of its
importance in the process of acquiring literacy, knowing how to teach and support phonemic
awareness learning has been a challenge for many. The authors intend to close the gap between
the research findings and classroom instruction by providing a developmental curriculum in
phonemic awareness based upon validated classroom research that originated in Sweden and
Denmark, and was then adapted and researched in classrooms in the United States.

Apel, K., & Masterson, J. (2001). Beyond Baby Talk: From Sounds to Sentences – A
Parent’s Guide to Language Development. California: Prima Publishing.

Sponsored by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, this book describes how

children develop language from their earliest words to sentences. With the understanding that
parents are the primary “language role models” for their children, the authors provide parents with
a guide to understanding language development as well as ways in which they can interact with
their children to promote language development.

Burns, M.S., Griffin, P., & Snow, C.E. (Eds.). (1999). Starting out right: A guide to
promoting children’s reading success. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

This book is edited by members of the Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties
in Young Children. It is intended for parents, teachers, policymakers, and community members.
The book addresses the following central questions:

• What kinds of language and literacy experiences should be part of all preschool and
childcare settings?
• What should reading instruction look like in kindergarten and the early grades?
• What questions should be asked of school boards, principals, elected officials and other
policy makers who make decisions regarding early reading instruction?
• Is my child making progress in reading related skills and early reading?

The goal of the book is to share a wealth of knowledge based upon extensive research on literacy
and language. There is an emphasis on practical application in this book with guidelines, program
descriptions, advice on resources, and strategies that can be used in everyday life.
1
 Gopnik, A., Meltzoff, A.N., & Kuhl, P.K. (1999). The scientist in the crib. New York:
Morrow.

This book looks with great detail into the relationship between science and young children's
development. There have been many rigorous scientific studies conducted which have helped us
better understand how babies think and learn. The latest research on early childhood development
tells us that babies and young children know and learn much more about the world around them
than we ever have imagined. This book is not the typical parenting advice or "how to" book.
Rather, it strives to take a different road and look at the science of babies' minds.

Hart, B., & Risley, T.R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young
American children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

In this book, Hart and Risley analyze the qualities of parenting that contribute to a child’s
acquisition of language. Their data on parent-child interactions provide a scientifically
substantiated link between children’s early family experience and later intellectual growth. The
authors found that race/ethnicity doesn’t matter; gender doesn’t matter, the birth order of a child
doesn’t matter. What does matter is the amount of verbal interaction that takes place between
parents and their children. The authors also found remarkable contrasts at the extremes of
economic advantage-and within the middle class-in the amount of interaction between parents and
children. As children get older, the disparities between the groups in vocabulary growth rate,
vocabulary use, and IQ test scores become striking.
Hart and Risley remind the reader of the profound effects environment can have on
development and their findings have important implications regarding the extent to which adequate
resources are devoted to support the development of young American children.

Hart, B., & Risley, T.R. (1999). The social world of children: Learning to talk. Baltimore:
Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

This book follows the groundbreaking study reported by Hart and Risley in their earlier
book, Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young American Children. It goes
beyond the discussion in the earlier book on the role of language experience in the
intergenerational transmission of language competence and examines the patterns in that
transmission. The authors provide tables and figures with their data and thoroughly discuss their
findings. Hart and Risley state that they have a simple message for parents: their conversation
matters when their children are young. Talking with children provides them with experiences that
are important to both their cognitive and their social/emotional learning. The authors provide
evidence that the language tools provided to children through conversation can contribute at least
as much to a child’s future success as their heredity and their choice of friends (Hart & Risley,
1999, p. xiii).

2
 Neuman, S., Copple, C., Bredekamp, S. (2000). Learning to read and write:
developmentally appropriate practices for young children. Washington DC: National Association
for the Education of Young Children.

This book is the product of a professional collaboration between early childhood educators and
reading specialists. It explains the position statement of the International Reading Association and
the National Association for the Education of Young Children on the all important and controversial
topic of when and how to teach young children to read and write. Also included is a summary of
effective teaching practices for preschool teachers, a section on frequently asked questions, and a
glossary of terms in early literacy. Finally, to help teachers consider the value of what they are
doing across the dimensions of literacy, there is a brief self –inventory (Taking Stock of What You
Do to Promote Children’s Literacy).

Neuman, S.B., & Dickinson, D.K. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of early literacy research. New
York: Guilford Press.

This volume examines current research on early literacy and intervention. The Handbook
begins by addressing broad questions about the nature of early literacy, and then continues by
summarizing current knowledge on cognitive development, and emphasizing the importance of
cultural contexts in the acquisition of literacy. Subsequent chapters focus on various skills and
knowledge that emerge as children become literate as well as the roles of peers and families in this
process. The book devotes attention to the importance of meeting the literacy needs of all children
and emphasizes the importance of coordinated school, family, and social services to provide the
necessary support for those children who struggle most in school.
Various approaches to instruction, assessment, and early intervention and research on the
efficacy of these approaches are described.

Snow, C.E., Burns, S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young
children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

This book is a summary report developed from the findings of the Committee on the
Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children. It examines research findings to provide an
“integrated picture of how reading develops and how reading instruction should proceed (p. vi).”
The core message of the book with regard to reading instruction is as follows: “ that reading
instruction integrate attention to the alphabetic principle with attention to the construction of
meaning and opportunities to develop fluency (p. vii).”
The research reviewed in this book included studies on normal reading development and
instruction; on risk factors that can be useful in identifying children at risk for reading failure; and on
prevention, intervention, and instructional approaches to ensuring the most optimal reading
outcomes. The committee emphasizes the importance of high-quality preschool and kindergarten
environments and their contribution to providing a critical foundation to facilitate children’s
acquisition of essential reading skills.