Designed to measure discrimination of prose excerpts, the Literary Discrimination Test (LDT) includes nine pairs of passages for the respondent to choose between, and one set of four passages to be rank-ordered. One of each pair of passages and one passage from the set of four were from published novels; the others were rewritten and inferior…

Designed to measure syntactic fluency or maturity in narrative writing, the Syntactic Maturity Test for Narrative Writing (SMTNW) is in two parts: (1) the test itself, a group of seventy-six kernel sentences making a coherent narrative, and (2) a means of syntactic analysis of the written samples that result when respondents rewrite the narrative,…

This study describes a program designed to improve reading comprehension through the selection, application, and transfer of appropriate reading strategies with both fictional and informational texts. The targeted population consisted of seventh and eighth grade middle school students in a middle-class community in the western suburbs of Chicago,…

Designed to study individual use of time spent in reading during regularly scheduled language arts instruction in a natural classroom setting, this coding sheet consists of nine categories: (1) engagement, (2) area of language arts, (3) instructional setting, (4) partner (teacher or pupil(s)), (5) source of content, (6) type of unit, (7) assigned…

A consolidated, updated edition of the microcomputer software South Carolina Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) correlation books that have been published by the Office of Instructional Technology since May 1984, this book serves as a reference to available software programs which address BSAP objectives for grades 1-8 in all three BSAP…

This self-appraisal checklist is designed to help Ohio teachers and administrators improve elementary school English/language arts programs. The checklist is organized into seven major categories representing essential aspects of an elementary school English/language arts program: (1) philosophy, (2) organization and administration, (3) class…

Designed to measure ability to choose rules of Standard English and Black English as they are appropriate to a situational context, the test consists of twenty items. It is an untimed group test, with reading assistance available if necessary from the examiner. Thirteen of the items present a situational context, requiring the subject to choose…

Designed to assess the quality of pieces of creative writing in the intermediate and junior high grades, the Sager Writing Scale (SWS) is intended for use by both students and teachers or by researchers. The SWS contains four scales with four ratings possible in the areas of vocabulary, elaboration, organization, and structure. Validity for the…

Designed to assess high school teachers' attitudes about teaching poetry, this questionnaire asked teachers to respond to a 38-item poetry methods rating scale (PMRS) on a seven-point scale (from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree"). The items for the questionnaire were derived from a study of popular methods texts for…

Designed to measure maturity of reading interests, the Sophistication of Reading Interests Scale consists of 29 pairs of fictitious story synopses, one of the pair more sophisticated than the other. Three indicators of level of maturity, defined in order of sophistication, are the importance of plot, the importance of characters, and the…

This study examines 240 preschool teachers' self-reported literacy beliefs and practices. Participants taught three- and four-year-olds in publicly funded preschools that are part of the Virginia Preschool Initiative program. Teachers completed a Preschool Literacy Practices Checklist that asked about their beliefs and practices regarding…

This manual is about the assessment, evaluation, and documentation of literacy development and growth in a student's early years of public schooling in North Carolina and is aligned with and complements the state's revised English Language Arts Standard Course of Study and Grade Level Competencies. The manual offers a perspective for change and…

This practicum was developed to increase the use of instructional technology as a teaching strategy among elementary classroom teachers by implementing a series of inservice workshops and mentoring programs. Workshops designed with teacher input were developed and presented to the staff where the writer worked. Interviews were conducted…

This checklist identifies materials currently available in language arts and reading for Korean/English bilingual programs in grades K-6. The compilation is intended as a guide for the development of diagnostic tests, for the selection of Korean materials for use by local school districts, and for the development of curricula in Korean language…

Designed to measure the ability of children to identify the meanings of structurally ambiguous or unambiguous sentences of English, the test consists of forty lead sentences: ten with surface structure ambiguity, ten with underlying structure ambiguity, and twenty which are unambiguous. For each of the lead sentences three interpretative sentences…