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In the study of reading, eye-tracking technology offers unique insights into the time-course of how individuals extract information from text. A significant hurdle in using multi-line paragraph stimuli is the need to align eye gaze position with the correct line. This is made more difficult by positional noise in the eye-tracking data, primarily due to vertical drift, and often necessitates manual intervention. Such manual correction is labor-intensive, subjective, and limits the scalability of research efforts. As a result, automated solutions are desirable, especially those that do not require extensive technical skills and still allow close control over the outcome. To address this, we introduce GazeGenie: a comprehensive software solution designed specifically for researchers in eye-tracking studies on multi-line reading. Accessible via an intuitive web browser-based user interface and easily installed using Docker, GazeGenie streamlines the entire data processing pipeline from parsing fixations from raw data to calculation of word and sentence-based measures based on cleaned and drift-corrected fixations. The software's core features include the recently introduced Dual Input Stream Transformer (DIST) model and various classical algorithms all of which can be combined within a Wisdom of the Crowds (WOC) approach to enhance accuracy in fixation line-assignment. By providing an all-in-one solution for researchers, we hope to make automated fixation alignment more accessible, reducing researchers' reliance on manual intervention in vertical fixation alignment. This should lead to more accurate, efficient, and reproducible analyses of multi-line eye-movement data and pave the way to enabling larger scale studies to be carried out., Comment: This work has been submitted to the Springer Behavior Research Methods for possible publication

This paper reports on the creation, growth, and continual development of a teacher-researcher community formed in conjunction with the University of Georgia site of the National Reading Research Center (NRRC). The National Reading Research Center School Research Consortium (SRC) is a teacher-researcher community that includes approximately 35 elementary, middle, and high school teachers from the greater Athens, Georgia, area. The mission of the SRC is to conduct and report teacher-directed classroom-based inquiry that informs practice and enlightens theory for literacy professionals. The research questions that drive current and future studies come directly from the teacher-researchers. The first sets of research questions came from open-ended meetings with prospective SRC teacher researchers. These questions were then refined and honed as the teacher researchers wrote proposals for SRC funding. The research questions evolved further as the research was implemented. The paper includes research questions that direct SRC studies, as well as vignettes of how teacher researchers' inquiry and research questions changed as the research process unfolded. Contains 24 references and 2 tables listing research questions. (RS)

This paper describes the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), a federally funded center that intends to carry out research to discover what promotes readers' engagement in literacy activities, foster their critical thinking and strategic learning, and prepare them to meet the challenges of a technological age. The paper describes the mission of the NRRC, perceived needs in reading research, the people in the NRRC, research programs in the NRRC (embracing instruction, learning, assessment, and professional development), planned collaborations and activities, and forthcoming products and publications. The paper concludes that the NRRC research agenda incorporates the goals and problems identified in the America 2000 plan. Twenty-four references, a list of the members of the NRRC national advisory board, and a list of the 41 research projects at NRRC are attached. (RS)

This paper provides insight into the history and growth of the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), that was charged to engage in research aimed at improving the reading proficiency of all students and to develop a broad, comprehensive model of reading acquisition that integrates the various cognitive, social, motivational, cultural, and instructional elements. The paper begins with an overview of the NRRC's mission and research agenda that acknowledges and addresses four pervasive problems: (1) too many Americans lack the ability and the desire to read and write; (2) the crisis in equity; (3) the nature of current reading instruction; and (4) the prevalence of decontextualized reading research. The paper next discusses how the research is unified by an "engagement perspective," which is based on the assumption that students acquire the competencies and motivations to read for diverse purposes. The paper then presents a brief description of nine research objectives, followed by an outline of how collaborative research has been and remains central to the NRRC. The paper next discusses the research structure for the first four years of the NRRC. The paper then discusses in detail the five strands of research undertaken during the third year of the project, which was designed to extend the knowledge base about how to cultivate highly motivated, self-determining readers who are the architects of their own learning. The paper concludes with an overview of projects for the fourth year of the NRRC. (Contains 51 references and lists of projects for the third and fourth years of the five-year project.) (RS)

This report highlights key studies, salient findings, and the significance of research supported by the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), which was charged to conduct research on reading instruction appropriate for prekindergarten through 12th-grade learning environments. The first chapter of the report elaborates on a foundation principle of NRRC researchers--the "engagement perspective" which specifies the goal of reading instruction as developing motivated and strategic readers who use literacy for pleasure and learning. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 present key ideas contributed to or reinforced by the NRRC's 5-year research program. Chapter 2 addresses key ideas for preschool and elementary school reading, including: reading instruction should be systematic and integrated with quality children's literature; phonics should be taught explicitly within the context of authentic reading and writing activities; and literacy learning occurs both at school and home. Chapter 3 describes key ideas for middle school and high school reading, including: the use of multiple documents fosters students' interest in and learning of social studies content; a student-centered English curriculum motivates and promotes secondary students' literacy learning; and using analogies in science instruction aids students' learning and appreciation of science content. Chapter 4 presents key ideas for and about literacy teachers, such as: teachers who conduct research acquire personal insight about teaching and learning; and students serving as researches or informants provide insightful perspectives within the teacher-research process. Chapter 5 envisions what the NRRC legacy might be. Contains 196 notes. (RS)

A study explored how adolescents' negotiations and interpretations of out-of-school reading discussions were shaped by larger institutional and societal contexts that regularly influence young people's actions and interactions with peers and adults. Drawing from a theoretical framework that conceives of discourse as social practice, such discourse was located in the interplay among three contexts: the situation-specific (or local context), the institutional context, and the societal context. The 22 adolescent and 2 adult participants met weekly in a library for 15 discussions as part of 4 Read & Talk Clubs. Primary data sources included the adolescents' daily literacy activity logs, field notes, and transcripts of audiotaped interviews with the adolescents and their parents. An adaptation of N. Fairclough's critical discourse analysis was used to relate R&T Club members' socially mediated interactions to the three contexts. Findings show the adolescents read an average of 46 minutes a day, 7 days a week, over a 15-week period. This was voluntary out-of-school reading--that is, reading done in addition to school-related assignments. Evidence from the interviews suggests that R&T Clubs were viewed as social outlets for adolescents who like to read. The gendered discursive practices that were observed were as varied as those known to exist in society at large. (Contains 74 references and a chart listing club members' grade, sex, and ethnicity. Appendixes present a recruitment flyer and a literacy activity log.) (Author/RS)

A study investigated the development of vocabulary knowledge in elementary school children as a function of story reading for partially known and unknown words. Subjects, 43 fourth-grade low-middle to middle-class children from a rural elementary school in the southeastern United States, participated in a vocabulary checklist in which they provided definitions or sentences for words they knew (known words), and checked off words they did not know the meaning of but were familiar with (partial-knowledge words). Children then read stories containing some of these words. The remaining words served as a control. Vocabulary growth was gradual for both known and unknown words. Moreover, word factors rather than text factors were more important in the development of vocabulary knowledge. (Contains 35 references, 3 notes, and 2 tables of data.) (Author/RS)

To examine the effects of students reading multiple documents on their perceptions of a historical event, in this case the "discovery" of America by Christopher Columbus, 85 high school freshmen read 3 of 4 different texts (or sets of texts) dealing with Columbus. One text was an encyclopedia article, one a set of articles from "Newsweek" and "Time," one an anti-Columbus diatribe, and one a counter-revisionist article from a prominent historian. Results indicated that students' attitudes towards Columbus changed initially after the first reading and tended to remain stable after that. Students' attitudes towards Native Americans were unaffected by the text reading, but tended to be generally positive and remained so. Second, a refutational text (the "Newsweek" and "Time" articles) had the greatest impact on students' attitudes toward Columbus, and a text with an outright negative tone had the least impact. Third, students' misconceptions about Columbus tended to change slowly after each text reading in contrast to their attitudes, which changed after a single reading. (Contains 20 references, and 1 table and 2 figures of data.) (Author/RS)

With the rapidly increasing number of second-language learners in elementary school classrooms and the difficulty they are experiencing in learning to read, educators need to create literacy programs that are appropriate for children who speak English as a second language (ESL) as well as native English-speaking (NES) students. There is also a need to support literacy instruction in other contexts, especially in the home. A study investigated whether rereading at home is a significant supplement to the literacy instructional program of ESL and NES students. Of specific interest was exploring the impact of increased access to books and rereading with an audio model in children's reading achievement and motivation. For a 7-month period, 131 first graders in 12 classrooms participated in 1 of 3 treatment groups: (1) structured shared reading at school in a book-rich environment and daily rereading of books with audiotapes at home; (2) structured shared reading at school in a book-rich environment; or (3) unmodified school reading. Results revealed enhanced comprehension and motivation for book-rich classrooms both with and without a home component. In addition, whereas home-based reading with audio support increased many students' reading interest and promoted parental involvement in literacy activities, it appeared to have particular benefits for second-language learners. (Contains 63 references and 8 tables of data. An appendix lists books used in the school-home reading projects.) (Author/RS)

A study analyzed ideas expressed by 38 parents of 4- to 5-year-old children about their socialization goals and the best ways of helping their child to attain them, with special attention to the domain of literacy. All the participating families had a child enrolled in kindergarten or first grade, all included an older child, and all were residents of Baltimore, Maryland. Parental goals, elicited through interviews and diaries, ranged widely and more often emphasized the moral/social and personal domains of development than intellectual and academic skills. Both the domain of development considered and the sociocultural background of the family influenced parents' preferred approach to socialization. Proactive intervention strategies (such as deliberate instruction) were more often cited for the domain of literacy than for moral development and were more often cited for the cultivation of literacy by low-income parents, whereas middle-income parents more often preferred a strategy of reliance on the child's experience. Preference for proactive intervention was related to an emphasis on the cultural theme of literacy as a set of skills to be acquired, while reliance on experience was related to the theme of literacy as a source of entertainment. Parents attributed greater responsibility to the school relative to the home for the socialization of children's literacy than for their moral development. Idiographic profiles of selected parents' ideas about these various issues are represented as illustrations of caregiver ethnotheories, and the implication are discussed for cooperative communication between parents and teachers about children's early introduction to literacy. (Contains 52 references and 7 tables of data. An appendix presents interview questions.) (Author/RS)

Grade-5 teachers, who were nominated by their supervisors as effective in educating their students to be readers and writers, responded to questionnaires about their practice. The 33 teachers claimed commitments to: (1) extensive reading at the heart of their reading instruction; (2) diverse instructional activities (e.g., whole-group instruction, small-group instruction, cooperative grouping, individual reading); (3) teaching of both word-level and higher-order (e.g., comprehension, critical thinking) skills and processes; (4) development of students' background knowledge; (5) student writing, including teaching of mechanics and higher-order composition skills (e.g., planning, drafting, revising as a process); (6) extensive evaluation of literacy competencies using diverse assessments; (7) integration of literacy and content-area instruction; and (8) effects to promote student motivation for reading and writing. Excellent literacy instruction is a balanced articulation of many components, including whole language experiences and skills instruction. (Contains 39 references. An appendix presents a table of data listing elements of instruction reported by teachers.) (Author/RS)

A 2-year project was designed to reorganize basal reading instruction as to stress fluent reading and automatic word recognition. The reorganized reading program had three components: a redesigned basal reading lesson, stressing repeated reading and partner reading; a choice reading period during the day; and a home reading program. Over the 2 years of the program, students made significantly greater than expected growth in reading ability in all 14 classes. All but 2 children who entered second grade reading at primer level or higher (and half of those who did not) were reading at grade level or higher by the end of the year. Growth in fluency and accuracy appeared to be consistent over the whole year. Students' and teachers' attitudes toward the program were positive. In evaluating individual components, results indicated that self-selected partnerings seemed to work best and that children chose partners primarily out of friendship. Children tended to choose books that were about or slightly below their instructional level. In addition, children seemed to benefit instructionally from more difficult materials, with the greater amount of scaffolding provided in this program. (Contains 49 references, and 4 tables and 6 figures of data. An appendix presents interview questions.) (Author/RS)

This study explored 330 third- and fifth-grade Maryland students' motivation to read using the Motivation to Read Profile (MRP). The first part of the MRP, a Likert-type, self-report, group-administered questionnaire, was completed by all students. The second part of the MRP, the Conversational Interview, was individually administered to a random sample of 48 students. Results provided support for the importance of two dimensions of motivation to read: self-concept as a reader and value of reading. In addition, the Conversational Interview revealed insights about the influence of text type, school, and home factors on motivation to read. Taken together, findings suggest that motivation to read is linked to four key features of literacy learning: access, choice, familiarity, and social interaction. (Contains 77 references and 7 tables of data. Appendixes provide an information sheet, a self-concept as a reader subscale, a value of reading subscale, an 8-item list of references cited for reading survey item generation, the Conversational Interview, and teacher directions for administration of the reading survey.) (RS)

This report describes a study that examined changes in literacy engagement during one year of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI), a new approach to teaching reading, writing, and science. Literacy engagement was defined as the integration of intrinsic motivations, cognitive strategies, and conceptual learning from text. To promote literacy engagement in classrooms, a team designed and implemented CORI in two third-grade and two fifth-grade classrooms in two schools. One hundred forty students participated in an integrated reading/language arts-science program, which emphasized "real world" science observations, student self-direction, strategy instruction, collaborative learning, self-expression, and coherence of literacy learning experiences. Trade books replaced basals and science textbooks. Based on 1-week performance assessments in the fall and spring, students gained in the following higher-order strategies: searching multiple texts, representing knowledge, transferring concepts, comprehending informational texts, representing knowledge, transferring concepts, comprehending informational text, and interpreting narrative. Children's intrinsic motivations for literacy correlated with cognitive strategies at both grade levels. All students who increased in intrinsic motivation also increased their use of higher-order strategies; and a sizeable proportion (50%) of students who were stable or decreased in intrinsic motivation failed to progress in higher-order strategies. Findings suggest that literacy engagement increased during the year. (Contains 62 references and 4 tables of data. The Performance Assessment of Literacy Engagement and 2 rubrics are attached.) (Author/RS)

A study examined students' motivations for participating in literacy tasks, especially which motivations prevailed and how these motivations varied in different contexts. Previous literature indicated that contexts in which students perceived that they had autonomy, opportunity for social interaction, and coherence (connections to other learning activities) would be likely to arouse intrinsic motivations, such as involvement and curiosity. Students in grade 3 and grade 5 classrooms were videotaped. In their usual team groups, small teams participated in normal classroom literacy lessons and also in investigator-designed activities. Immediately after the videotaping, students were interviewed to determine their motivations and their perceptions of the characteristics of the context. Grade 3 students reported more intrinsic motivations when they perceived the context to be socially supportive; however, grade 5 students' report of intrinsic motivations was not linked to their perceptions of the social characteristics of the context. Grade 5 students reported higher motivations when the content was perceived as autonomy supportive; and grade 3 students did not express higher motivation based on the perceived autonomy support. Findings underscore the importance of student perceptions of context. (Contains 34 references, and 7 tables and 1 figure of data.) (Author/RS)

A series of four studies tested two methods of revising instructional text to improve students' learning from it. In one method, the revisions untangled the "cognitive knots" in the text; in the second method, the revisions highlighted the "point" of the text. Subjects for the various studies were 40 students in an intact high school biology class (study 1); 30 ninth-grade students in English and History and 29 college freshmen (study 2); 41 college students (study 3); and 12 students from the same population used in studies 1-3 and 5 professors from the University of Georgia (study 4). Both methods were tested by giving original, naturally occurring textbook excerpts to one group of students and the revised versions to a separate group, and then giving the same tests of learning to both groups. In all cases, the groups who read the revised version got significantly higher scores on the test than those who read the original version. Findings suggest that the revision techniques were effective in increasing learning. (Contains nine tables of data. Appendixes provide a pair of texts for the "cognitive knots" study, texts used in experiment 2, and instructions for experiment 3.) (Author/RS)

A study examined the role that instructions to generate analogies can play when 56 middle-school eighth-grade and seventh-grade students learn a science textbook unit. The target concept on the unit was the cell and the key features of the concept were the cell parts and their functions. Prior to studying the unit on the cell, the students received a study guide, encouraging them to read carefully in preparation for a test on the unit. The study guide explained that the test would require the students to explain, in writing, the cell to another (hypothetical) student who was unfamiliar with the cell. The students in the experimental group were additionally instructed to generate analogies when they studied and to include these analogies in their explanations; these students were also given an example analogy in their study guide. Results indicated that the students in the experimental group included more analogies in their explanations than the students in the control group. In addition, the students in the experimental groups tended to recall more cell parts and functions than the students in the control group, but these differences were not statistically significant. Findings suggest that analogy instructions have the potential to increase text recall, but instructions in future studies should be more extensive and incorporate multiple examples of analogies. (Contains 20 references and 4 tables of data.) (Author/RS)

Children have much to teach educators about the kinds of group work that enhance their social, emotional, and cognitive development. Using children's own words, this playlet juxtaposes third-grade and fifth/sixth grade views of how group work helps and hinders their school experiences in literacy learning. Students in both age groups experienced similar benefits of group work including sharing ideas and the burdens of work, having access to help, and learning to cooperate, among others. Most of the differences between the two contexts related to problems of group work. The older students, particularly, experienced a tension between group membership and their own developing autonomy. The challenge of the teacher developing sense of self and individual identity are maintained while the values inherent in group work are nurtured. Contains 33 references. (Author/RS)

A study investigated the effects of inserting questions in a computer-mediated text that required readers to review relevant portions of the text when a question was answered incorrectly. Undergraduate students (n=36) served as their own controls while reading a scientific text under 3 treatment conditions that varied as to the consequences of an incorrect response to a question. Participants spent proportionately more time reviewing target paragraphs directly relevant to inserted questions when mandatory review was linked to answering the same as opposed to a different question after a review cycle. A statistically significant interaction between treatment and question type on a posttest indicated that participants' scores were higher on repeated inferential questions and lower on new literal questions when review cycles were followed by a different question. Findings suggest that varying the contingencies associated with responses to questions inserted in computer-mediated texts may affect readers' strategies and consequently the information recalled. (Contains 15 references, and 2 tables and 2 figures of data.) (Author/RS)

A study assessed dimensions of children's reading motivations by giving them a revised version of the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire (MRQ). The MRQ is designed to assess 11 possible dimensions of reading motivations, including reading efficacy, several intrinsic and several extrinsic reading motivations, social aspects of reading, and the desire to avoid reading. Approximately 600 fifth- and sixth-grade children completed the MRQ as part of a larger intervention study designed to increase children's reading comprehension and enjoyment of reading. Analyses of children's responses to the MRQ showed that many of these dimensions can be identified, and measured reliably. Scales based on the different dimensions related positively to one another, and negatively to the desire to avoid reading. Several of the scales related to children's reports of their reading frequency, and to their performance on four measures of reading achievement. (Contains 40 references and 8 tables of data.) (Author/RS)

Using an approach to classroom research that D. Newman (1990) has termed a formative experiment, a study investigated the effects of engaging elementary school students in creating computer-based multimedia reviews of books they read independently. Formative experiments are designed to investigate how an instructional intervention can be implemented to achieve a pedagogical goal in a particular educational environment. Creating multimedia book reviews was the intervention; increasing the amount and diversity of students' independent reading was the pedagogical goal. Diverse quantitative and qualitative data were gathered during 2 academic years in 9 4th-grade and 5th-grade classrooms across 3 schools. Consistent with the intent of formative experiments, results are presented guided by the following questions: (1) What factors in the educational environment enhance or inhibit the intervention's effectiveness in achieving the pedagogical goal?; (2) How can the intervention and its implementation be modified during the experiment to achieve more effectively the pedagogical goal?; (3) What unanticipated positive or negative effects does the intervention produce?; and (4) Has the educational environment changed as a result of the intervention? Results indicated that the multimedia book review activity contributed to achieving the pedagogical goal of increasing the amount of children's independent reading; and school environments and teachers' roles to some extent shaped the effects of the activity. Findings suggest that formative experiments can address the limitations of conventional research methods previously used to study computer-based literacy activities in classrooms. (Contains 64 references, and 4 tables and 11 figures of data. Appendixes presents parent and teacher questionnaires.) (Author/RS)

A family literacy program was designed to bridge home and school literacy contexts by involving parents and children in developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive literacy activities. The program's purpose was to enhance children's achievement and interest in reading and writing. The family program was a mirror image of a literature-based school program which included literacy centers in classrooms, teacher-modeled literature activities, and writing and reading appreciation periods called "WRAP (Writing and Reading Appreciation) Time" when children choose with whom to work and in which literacy activities to engage. The home program had similar features to the school program: engaging parents and children in storybook reading, recording words from the environment, writing journals, engaging in storytelling, and using "Highlights for Children" magazine as a home-school connection literacy material. Parent meetings were held monthly with children to share ideas, find out what parents and children wanted to learn, and to give them the opportunity to work and learn together. The program was carried out in an inner-city school district, with mostly African-American and Latino families. Children were in grades 1-3. Pre- and posttests were administered to determine growth in achievement and interest in reading. Achievement and motivation data demonstrated a significant difference in favor of the children in the family program. Success was attributed to the collaboration and shaping of the program by parents and teachers in an atmosphere of mutual respect. (Contains 20 references, and 3 tables and 1 figure of data. An appendix lists storybooks used for testing.) (Author/RS)

This report considers preschool children's early literacy-related competencies. The data are from the first 2 years of the Early Childhood Project, a longitudinal investigation following preschool children from different sociocultural groups in Baltimore, Maryland, through their transition into the early years of elementary school. Children were tested in 14 early literacy-related competencies during the spring of both their pre-kindergarten and kindergarten years. The tasks measured aspects of an Orientation towards Print, Phonological Awareness, or Narrative Competence. Some of the tasks used were standard reading readiness measures. A second series of analyses considered the relation between home practices/experiences and emergent literacy development. Children were tested to see whether being brought up in a home predominantly oriented toward the view that literacy is a source of entertainment is more or less likely to develop an Orientation towards Print, Phonological Awareness, of Narrative Competence than a child being brought up in a home where literacy is more typically viewed as a set of skills to be acquired. These different approaches to literacy were derived from parents' answers to questions about how to help foster reading as well as a review of the children's home activities. Taking an approach that literacy is a source of entertainment was positively related to an orientation toward print as well as aspects of narrative competence and phonological awareness. In general, taking the approach that literacy is a set of skills to be learned was either negatively related or not significantly related to the three strands. (Contains 51 references and 15 tables of data.) (Author/RS)

Concerns are being raised in both professional literature as well as in the popular press regarding certain aspects of the literature-based movement. A longitudinal study investigated a group of first-grade teachers who have been attempting (with varying degrees of success) to introduce literature-based teaching strategies into their classrooms. The experiences of these teachers were inspected in relation to four areas of concern that have been raised regarding literature-based teaching: (1) skills instruction; (2) guided reading strategies; (3) literature selection; and (4) thematic teaching (or curriculum integration). Results indicated that the teachers varied considerably in their instruction as they wrestled with the issue of how best to guide students toward appropriate practice and success with texts that were uncontrolled in terms of vocabulary. Findings provide support for both sides of an increasingly polarized and strident debate over the merits of literature-based teaching. Contains 29 references. (Author/RS)

Over the past 10 years, traditional elementary history textbooks have been criticized by a number of reviewers. In part as a result, some fifth-grade teachers, many of whom have students who are learning chronological U.S. history for the first time, have begun to augment these textbooks with biographies, historical fiction, literature-based historical accounts, and other alternative history texts, providing multiple sources to their students for learning about that history. A study assessed the history reading opportunities provided in a fifth-grade classroom, and then (1) questioned six students from that class about their reading interests with respect to the various texts; (2) explored how the six distinguished among the texts as sources of historical context; and (3) studied the ways in which the multiple sources influenced the development of their critical reading capacities and historical understanding. Six major themes emerged from the data. These themes are discussed in relationship to their implications for learning to become engaged, critical readers of U.S. history and for what they might say about developing enhanced levels of historical understanding. Contains 38 references, 7 notes, and a figure. A 16-item sample of history texts available to students and think-aloud protocol texts are attached. (Author/RS)

The aims of concept-oriented reading instruction (CORI) are to increase motivation, strategies, and conceptual learning. To attain these aims, CORI classrooms are: conceptually oriented, observational, collaborative, and personalized, emphasizing strategies of searching, comprehending, integrating, and composing for audiences of peers. Two quasi-experimental studies compared CORI in language arts and science in grades 3 and 5 to traditional instruction on two performance assessments. In study 1, CORI students from three schools were higher in literacy engagement, conceptual learning, and conceptual transfer than traditional students, controlling three background variables. In multiple regressions, the variables of instruction, literacy engagement, and student background accounted for approximately 50% of the variance in conceptual learning. In study 2, CORI students were higher than traditional students in measures of literacy (reading and writing combined), language use, science, and social studies, but not in math, which was not taught in CORI. These experimental findings suggest that the principles of integrated teaching in CORI are responsible for increased literacy engagement and conceptual understanding in language arts and science. (Contains 49 references, and 7 tables and 5 figures of data.) (Author/RS)

A qualitative study followed slow-progress students as they engaged in embedded word studies in their classroom-based literacy activities. Issues addressed were: (1) the ways embedded word studies promoted slower-progress students' word knowledge; (2) how developing word knowledge influenced these students' reading and writing attempts; and (3) effects of the social context on beginning readers' strategies and motivation to gain word knowledge. Participants included a Caucasian male, an African-American male, an African-American female, and their teacher in an eastern United States public school. Open and axial coding was performed on field notes (including interviews), running records, and students' writing samples to find recurring patterns. Instruction successfully promoted the case-study students' individual progress. Social context was a means to enhance students' involvement that increased strategy use. Findings support the view that word studies can be embedded within a holistic literacy setting in ways that result in gains in spelling and decoding competence. (Contains 40 references and 9 figures of data.) (Author/RS)