The Odessa Experiment: A Proposed Program For First Grade Odessa, Texas

THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED For many years, constant research has been going on in reading to determine the relative effectiveness of reading methods as they relate to pupil progress. Recent studies have been directed to the location and removal of deficiencies in reading but only a few of these studies have been predicated on active teacher involvement in the study of classroom problems in reading. Statement of the problem. It was the purpose of this study to gather data concerning word recognition abilities of several first-grade groups to find (1) what should be taught; (2) how to teach it; and (3) how to measure progress. Importance of the study. Word recognition has often been discussed as a major problem in the reading process. In spite, however, of the application of the new philosophy and the new psychology of education from the standpoint of teacher education, materials, buildings, and behavior, the problem of word recognition continues to exist in today\u27s schools. Especially is this true when words are related to comprehension and the basic study skills. The strengths and limitations of teaching procedures have been evaluated by many educational researchers with the hope of improving reading instruction and thereby developing an adequate reader, but in a majority of classrooms, many youngsters are low achievers. Therefore, raising the levels of ability in reading becomes the problem of the research novice