By: Author: Browder, Diane M.; Wakeman, Shawnee Y.; Spooner, Fred; Ahlgrim-Delzell, Lynn; Algozzine, Bob
From: Exceptional Children June 22, 2006

This article presents the results of a comprehensive review of 128 studies on teaching reading to individuals with significant cognitive disabilities. The review compared these studies against the National Reading Panel's components of reading; although it revealed an inadequate consideration of the components of reading, it found strong evidence for teaching sight words using systematic prompting and fading. The reviewers considered not only the number of studies, but also indicators proposed for evidence-based practice and effect size. This study identified some high quality studies with strong effect size for comprehension and fluency, but only one phonics study was strong in both quality and effects. Additional research is needed to promote broader skills in literacy for this population.
[Note - The test formatting of this version of the article makes the table difficult to follow. If you are interested in the tables, you'll need to get a hard copy of the magazine or see if you can find the original format of this article online.]

From American Educator ©1998 via LD Online

By: Joseph K. Torgesen (1998)

One of the most compelling findings from recent reading research is that children who get off to a poor start in reading rarely catch up. As several studies have now documented, the poor first-grade reader almost invariably continues to be a poor reader (Francis, Shaywitz, Stuebing, Shaywitz, & Fletcher, 1996; Torgesen & Burgess, 1998).

From www.interventioncentral.org
by Jim Wright

[BSNPTA Note: The entire manual Kids as Helps: A Peer Tutoring Manual is available on this site. This posting is the introductory chapter only.]

Perhaps the most pressing challenge that schools face is one of ensuring that all children become competent readers. Young children who experience problems in reading quickly fall behind their more skilled classmates in their ability to decode and comprehend text. This gap in reading skills can emerge as early as first grade—and, once present, tends to be quite stable over time. Firstgrade teachers can predict with some confidence, for example, that those children in their classrooms with significant reading deficits by the end of the school year will very likely have continuing difficulties in reading in the fourth grade.

From Reading Rockets

For almost forty percent of kids, learning to read is a challenge. So in addition to talking, reading, and writing with your child, families play another important role – being on the lookout for early signs of possible trouble.

Here are two of the biggest to watch out for:

• Language or speech problems
Children who talk late, who say very few words, who have trouble pronouncing words, or who have difficulty expressing feelings verbally may have trouble learning to read.
• Hearing impairment
  Children who have difficulty hearing the individual sounds in words may have trouble understanding how those sounds connect with letters in written words.

From Teaching Exceptional Children
by Tom Langdon

(BSNPTA note: Some people prefer to read the article in the original pdf format.)

The last 30 years in special education have been a process of attempting to legislate learning for special education populations through well intended but, nevertheless, faulty regulatory codes. This practice was predicated on a legal model that subscribed to the belief that if one followed the written rules, regulations and codes, then learning would occur. Under this model, special educators were judged accountable for student learning to the extent that they followed the rules. Actual student learning played a secondary role to the rule of law.

From Learning Disabilities Association of America

Reading instruction is designed to teach two elements of reading: mechanics and comprehension. While the foundation for reading begins at birth, the focus of instruction from preschool through third grade is reading mechanics, and reading comprehension is the focus from the third grade into early adulthood. It cannot be assumed that a child with learning disabilities will master the mechanics of reading by third grade. Thus, it is critical that appropriate reading instruction is available throughout his/her school career.

Reading mechanics and comprehension comprise various skill levels that are typically taught in a progressive fashion. Skill levels involved in reading mechanics include pre-reading, decoding and fluency. Pre-reading skills build upon an individual's growing range of experiences that develop awareness and appreciation of printed words. Individuals should be encouraged to be aware of words wherever they appear, e.g., on grocery labels, household objects, billboards, and the like.

From Center for Development and Learning
by Louisa C. Moats, Ed.D.

Both students and educators become frustrated when students beyond 3rd grade display reading difficulties. Research-based reading strategies can build a foundation for reading success in students of all ages.

Since 1996, state and federal reading initiatives have focused on the problem of reading failure at kindergarten and the primary grades. The focus on early intervention is well- conceived, given the strong evidence that research-based instruction beginning in kindergarten significantly reduces the number of children who experience reading difficulty (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000).

From International Dyslexia Association

The word dyslexia comes from the Greek language and means poor language. Individuals with dyslexia have trouble with reading, writing, spelling and/or math although they have the ability and have had opportunities to learn. Individuals with dyslexia can learn; they just learn in a different way. Often these individuals, who have talented and productive minds, are said to have a language learning difference.

From The Partnership for Reading
by Bonnie B. Armbruster, Ph.D., Fran Lehr, Jean Osborn, M. Ed.

(BSNPTA note: Some people prefer to read the article in the original pdf format)

In today's schools, too many children struggle with learning to read. As many teachers and parents will attest, reading failure has exacted a tremendous long-term consequence for children's developing self-confidence and motivation to learn, as well as for their later school performance.

While there are no easy answers or quick solutions for optimizing reading achievement, an extensive knowledge base now exists to show us the skills children must learn in order to read well. These skills provide the basis for sound curriculum decisions and instructional approaches that can help prevent the predictable consequences of early reading failure.

From National Education Association

Every parent wants his or her child to be a successful reader. Reading, after all, provides the foundation for a great education as well as a lifelong skill that brings not only knowledge, but pleasure.

Building on What We Know About Learning To Read
Research on reading and learning to read shows that there are things that can be done at home from an early age that help children become successful as readers. The following suggestions, which are backed up by research, should be especially helpful to parents and caregivers of young children.