COMMON OVERSIMPLIFICATIONS OF READING PROCESS

doctoral candidate in reading education at Boston University. ■ This article examines some of the assumptions implicit in approaches to the diagnosis and correction of reading problems. These are assumptions that are apparently widely held by teachers, designers of remedial reading programs, and the authors of remedial reading textbooks. My premise is that some of the strategies used to diagnose and correct word identification and comprehension disorders are based upon an overly simple analysis of reading and learning to read, rather than upon a contemporary understanding of the reading process. This premise is supported by reading research. The focus of reading research has shifted from the do's and don'ts of