The Early Literacy Project: Connecting across the Literacy Curriculum

Abstract

Research was conducted on the efficacy of an integrated reading-writing program for primary-grade students with mild disabilities. The literacy program was designed to incorporate five principles of teaching and learning: the involvement of students in contextualized literacy activities, the development of learning-to-learn strategies, the construction of classroom dialogues about literacy, the enactment of responsive instruction designed to support learners in their zones of proximal development, and the creation of literacy communities. Furthermore, the study involved three different groups of learners: students of control teachers, students of first-year teachers, and students of second-year teachers. The results clearly indicated the effects of the integrated literacy program on students' reading and writing performance, especially the students of the most experienced teachers. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.