Influence of Basal Programs on Fourth-Grade Reading Instruction

teachers adhered to the recommendations in the teacher's guide for activities to be used before and after the reading of basal selections. Based on results of these analyses, the authors suggest four conclusions. First, basal programs differ in important respects; the two studied differed in organizational complexity, but were similar in content. Second, the design of the basal program influences the extent to which materials for students are assigned and read. Third, the basal programs studied included many skill activities, and instruction showed a similar emphasis. Fourth, teachers differ in how much they rely on prereading and postreading recommendations in the teacher's guide. Further research is needed to determine the extent to which these findings may be generalized to teachers using the same type of basals in other situations and grade levels, and to teachers using other basal programs.