Instructing Students Who Have Literacy Problems

The fourth edition ofInstructing Students Who Have Literacy Problems,like the previous editions, reflects the balanced outlook on literacy instruction now held by most reading educators. While acknowledging that the ultimate purpose of reading is to comprehend text, this current perspective also recognizes that adequate word recognition and word identification strategies are necessary precursors for understanding printed material. In the continuing tradition of this book, the present edition thoroughly treats both issues--word learning and comprehension--for students who have difficulties in learning to read. The balanced conception of reading programs is further exhibited in suggestions for integrating reading, writing, and spelling instruction to advance overall literacy attainment with low-achieving readers. This book is intended for upper level undergraduates and graduate students in courses on corrective, remedial, and/or clinical reading instruction. It also is suitable for use in courses focusing on instruction of individuals with learning disabilities because the educational dilemmas of those students center more frequently on reading problems than on any other academic area. Much that was popular with instructors and students in the previous editions has been retained, but much is new with this revision as well. Content and Organizational Changes for the Fourth Edition All four assessment chapters have been updated.The assessment unit in the previous edition, comprised of Chapters 4-7, included basic information on assessment as well as sections on the role of portfolios in remedial reading programs and learning disabilities programs, a delineation of ways to use listening comprehension to judge reading potential, descriptions of running records, discussions of tests of phonemic awareness, and a depiction of varied tests of metacognitive strategy use. All of this critical information has been retained. In addition, the following has been added in the present revised edition. A special feature now found in each of the four chapters isSTEPS: Administering Assessments in Your Own Classroom,which, in boxed material, lists for students "step by step" how to conduct various assessments. New topics have been introduced, such as discussions of high-stakes versus low-stakes testing, descriptions of computer-administered tests, and other timely information. In-depth descriptions of popular informal reading inventories (IRIS) have been provided in a unique section in Chapter 5. To complement the segment on spelling assessment, the complete word lists plus administration and interpretation directions for the Schlagel Qualitative Spelling Inventory have been added. All Test Banks have been revised to include only the latest available tests. New, current test examples are included. Many additional illustrative materials, including figures and tables, have been added to explicate information. Certain sections have been shortened to allow inclusion of new material and permit greater treatment of contemporary issues. The length of the assessment unit remains approximately the same as in the third edition. While the assessment chapters were particularly targeted for revision, there are additions and revisions throughout the other chapters as well. Some of these include: In every chapter, new visuals have been added to clarify, inform, extend, illustrate, summarize, generate interest, and provide actual materials teachers can use. New topics are treated.A sampling of these across chapters include descriptions of new early-intervention programs, plus research reports of early intervention results in general; a description in vignette form of a model America Reads program; new data on outcomes of inclusion programs; discussions of causation issueMcCormick, Sandra is the author of 'Instructing Students Who Have Literacy Problems', published 2002 under ISBN 9780130941954 and ISBN 0130941956.