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Many of our articles dated 2000 and earlier can now be found in this archive.

As difficult as life has been for illiterate Americans in the past, the economy of the near future will offer even fewer jobs for workers with poor reading skills. The Information Age and the advance of technology into daily life make the job prospects for poor readers bleaker than ever.

When communities work together, they can improve the reading achievement of their children. Learn what efforts need to be made with preschool and school-aged children in order to improve reading achievement in America.

NICHD research on children with learning disabilities has shown that deficiencies in processing letter-sounds are at the heart of most reading problems. This article illustrates how letter-sound processing works, and describes strategies for teaching children this skill.

Developmentally appropriate research-based literacy instruction in the primary grades includes attention to a variety of areas. Learn what reading instruction looks like in such areas as word identification, writing, and spelling in this overview.

There are certain characteristics of groups and individual children that increase their likelihood of struggling with reading. Find out how to use knowledge of these risk factors to help prevent reading problems for these children.

Reading is essential to success in our society. The ability to read is highly valued and important for social and economic advancement. Of course, most children learn to read fairly well. In this report, we are most concerned with the large numbers of children in America whose educational careers are imperiled because they do not read well enough to ensure understanding and to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive economy.

Recent research has provided a clearer picture about reading difficulties and how to prevent them. This position paper of the International Dyslexia Association argues for reform in teacher preparation to reflect these research-based understandings.

Learning how to read requires several complex accomplishments. Read about the challenges children face as they learn how sounds are connected to print, as they develop fluency, and as they learn to construct meaning from print.

Children from a variety of backgrounds struggle with learning to read. However, as described in this article, research points to one common reason they struggle, and common strategies to help them succeed.

These tips for parents of children with learning disabilities emphasize to all parents the importance of helping children learn about letters and sounds. Get concrete advice for teaching the alphabet, raising awareness about sounds, and promoting letter-sound knowledge.