Improving Reading in the Junior High School. Bulletin, Proceedings of Conference, December 13-14, 1956. 1957, No. 10
Author: Jewett, Arno
Date: 1957-00-00
Type: Collected Works - Proceedings
Subjects: Remedial Programs,Reading Programs,Reading Improvement,Standardized Tests,Principals,Reading Difficulties,Junior High School Students,Instructional Improvement,Learning Experience,Guidelines,State Programs,Program Evaluation,Program Development,Content Area Reading,Educational Research,Mathematics Instruction,Social Studies,Science Teachers,Teacher Responsibility

The purpose of this bulletin is to help teachers, supervisors, administrators, and other educators improve the quality of reading done by junior high school pupils. Interest in ways to teach developmental and remedial reading in the junior high school is nationwide. Junior high school principals and teachers of various subjects are particularly interested in developing schoolwide reading programs. In an effort to assist these professional personnel, the Secondary School Section in the fall of 1956 invited some of the reading authorities, consultants, and directors of clinics to participate in a two-day reading conference, December 13 and 14, 1956, at Washington, D.C. The purposes of the conference were as follows: (1) To consider ways in which sound research findings may be used to improve instruction in reading; (2) To offer suggestions for initiating a developmental reading program; to suggest guiding principles, learning experiences, and types of materials for conducting a developmental reading program in high school; (3) To define the responsibilities of various subject matter teachers for instruction in reading; (4) To outline means for starting a remedial program; to offer guidelines for organizing and operating a remedial program in the junior high school; (5) To consider the relationship of evaluation to reading improvement; and (6) To review two statewide programs for improving reading. The emphasis throughout this bulletin is on research, particularly the implications of significant research for the improvement of reading instruction and for the conduct of sound developmental and remedial reading programs. The document is divided into six sections. Part I--Research in Reading-- contains the following papers: (1) What Does Research Suggest about Ways to Improve Reading Instruction? (Arthur E. Traxler); (2) What Does Research Tell the Classroom Teacher about the Basic Causes of Reading Disability and Retardation? (Margaret J. Early); (3) What Does Research Tell about the Reading Interests of Junior High Pupils? (Arno Jewett). Part II--Developmental Reading--includes: (1) How Can a Junior High School Staff Get a Schoolwide Developmental Program Under Way? (Carl J. Freudenreich); (2) What Should Be the Objectives of a Schoolwide Developmental Program? (George Murphy); (3) What Experiences, Activities, and Materials Are Helpful in a Developmental Reading Program? (Paul Witty); and (4) Reading Experiences to Help Adolescents in Their Search for the &quot;1&quot; (Dwight L. Burton). Part III--Responsibilities for Reading Instruction--contains: (1) What Are the Responsibilities of Language Arts and Core Teachers for Teaching Reading? (Nancy Young); (2) The Problem of Reading Instruction in Mathematics (John R. Clark); (3) The Responsibilities of Science Teachers for Teaching Reading (J. Darrell Barnard); and (4) What Are the Responsibilities of Social Studies Teachers for Teaching Reading? (Mabel Rudisill). Part IV--Remedial Reading--covers the following topics: (1) How to Conduct a Remedial Reading Program (Guy L. Bond); and (2) How to Organize a Remedial Reading Program (Gilbert B. Schiffman). Part V--Evaluation to Improve Reading--includes: (1) How Can Teachers Determine Pupils' Reading Status? (Donald L. Cleland); and (2) How Can Standardized Tests and Other Evaluative Means Be Used to Improve Reading? (Ullin W. Leavell). Part VI--What is Being Done on the State Level to Improve Reading?-- includes: (1) Junior High School Reading Programs in Connecticut (Leonard W. Joll); and (2) The Development of a Program to Improve the Teaching of Reading in Texas (Jewell Askew). The following are appended: (1) Selected References on Developmental and Remedial Reading for High School Teachers and Administrators; and (2) &quot;What Do You Like to Read&quot; (form prepared by Arno Jewett). Individual papers contain references and footnotes. [Best copy available has been provided.]