Reading Resource Links
Listed below are national interest groups, associations, and regional laboratories that have so much to share. We've noted some current resources our users may want to review.
Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA)
The Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) is a national center for research on early reading. Members include educators from five universities (the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, with the University of Southern California, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Georgia) together with teacher educators, teachers, publishers of texts, tests, and technology, professional organizations, and schools/school districts across the United States. Look at the library and check out the links.
International Reading Association (IRA)
This is a worldwide professional organization of classroom teachers, reading specialists, researchers, and parents. Visit the programs page to learn about the journals and research capabilities: Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, and Reading on-line.
Learning Network
http://www.tnelearningnetwork.org/
This site is divided into sections: parents, teachers, kids, references, teens, and a commercial site. We referenced the parents' and the kids' sites. By working your way through the grade-by-grade sites you can locate activities for kids. Access the "Learning Pod" to find information on state assessments and explore other activities.
Parent site: http://www.familyeducation.com
Kids site: http://klnlive.com/kln
Literary Resources on the Internet (LINCS)
LINCS is the National Institute for Literacy's gateway to literacy resources on the internet.
Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning
McREL is a private, nonprofit organization whose purpose is to improve education through applied research and development. McREL provides products and services to promote the best instructional practices in the classroom. Established in 1966, McREL provides services to state and local education agencies in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
McREL's products include the following:
- Literacy Plus, an integrated reading, writing, spelling, and literature program for primary grades
- Teaching Reading in the Content Areas, a resource for teachers, staff development specialists, reading coordinators, administrators, and parents that includes instructional strategies to improve students' understanding when reading for content
A copy of the publication, "A Framework for Early Literacy Instruction: Aligning Standards to Developmental Accomplishments and Student Behaviors, Pre-K Through Kindergarten, Rev Ed," can be downloaded from Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning site, http://www.mcrel.org/PDF/Literacy/
Parents may be interested in the discussion about standards and benchmarks and how to develop. Make sure to review the Early Literacy Standards and Benchmarks beginning on page 7. Note the developmental continuum along with the example behaviors. Many of these behaviors can be readily observed by parents. The second standard addresses writing.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
NAEYC was founded in 1926 and has over 100,000 members. It is dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade. Look at the "Parents" section.
National Center for Family Literacy
The National Center for Family Literacy is a nonprofit organization that supports family literacy services through training, research, advocacy and dissemination. Look at state-by-state information on family literacy legislation.
National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST)
Go to the Parents' Page for the latest articles and references. We have previously referenced "How is my Child Doing in School? - Ten Research-based ways to find out" in our "Gotta Look At This: A Great Starting Point" site. Scroll through their list of parent-oriented articles and publications. Especially look at Publications for parents. The CRESST Assessment Glossary is a great resource.
National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education (ECI)
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/ECI
The Early Childhood Institute (ECI) sponsors comprehensive research to help ensure America's young children are successful in school and beyond.
The National Institute for Literacy
The National Institute for Literacy is an independent federal organization that supports the development of state and national literacy services. The institute administers Partnership for Reading.
We refer our users to the parent tool "Put Reading First" in the "Gotta Read" section. We also suggest "Putting Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read - Kindergarten through Grade 3." This 57 page publication, designed for teachers, summarizes the findings of the National Reading Panel (2000) after reviewing 100,000 reading studies. There are 5 areas of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. Much of the publication is scientifically-based, but you will find the "Questions you may have about..." and "Summing up" pages at the end of each of the five sections helpful. The language of literacy (page 4) along with the examples given helped this reader finally understand the difference between phonemic awareness and phonics (page 3).
Find both downloads at http://npin.org
NPIN is a project of the ERIC system. Parents will want to look at the Virtual Library http://npin.org/handcrafted2.asp and the Parents AskEric question-answering service. We found this specific reading reference list, which you may find helpful: http://ericir.syr.edu/cgi-bin/lessons.cgi/Language_Arts.
The National Parenting Center
http://www.tnpc.com/parentalk/index.htm
Access the "Parentalk" newsletter, published monthly. We found book reviews available. "Reading Ideas for Grandparents" was also a feature at the site. Other commercial information is also available.
Northwest Regional Education Laboratory
http://www.nwrel.org/assessment/
The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL), a private, nonprofit corporation, provides research and development assistance to education, government, community agencies, business, and labor. NWREL's primary service area is the Northwest states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.
NWREL has been developing a reading and writing assessment program since 1996. Find out about "The Traits of an Effective Reader Assessment Model" and "6+1Trait Writing" program. Link to professional articles on the programs. Look for the K-3 Development Continuum Oral Reading Rubric for Fluency, Rate, Expression, and Self-monitoring.
Users should check out the great parent information in NREL's "Tips for Parents About Reading."
http://www.nwrac.org/pub/tipsforparents.pdf.
Parents as Teachers (PAT)
This non-profit parent education and family support organization develops curriculum and certifies parent educators to work with parents to provide them with parenting information on their developing child. Look at the "Parents" Page for activities you can do with your child to encourage pre-reading development. Some articles are available in Spanish.
U.S. Department of Education
http://www.cse.ucla.edu/products/parents/cresst_Ten_Tips_edited15.doc
This site provides resources for Families and Caregivers published by the Department of Education Publications - Federal Offices or Federally Funded Clearinghouses Providing Information on Literacy and Learning.
