Cognitive predictors of reading are well known, but less is understood about the roles of "noncognitive" factors, including emotional variables such as anxiety. While "math" anxiety has been a focus of study, its analogue in the reading literature is understudied. We assessed struggling fourth and fifth graders (n = 272) on…

The study aimed to identify the students' characteristics (perception of self-efficacy, resistance, persistence, taking responsibility and competence for their cognitive processes) that might affect the response behaviors of fifth grade students for open ended questions written in different cognitive levels. This study was designed as relational…

Engagement during reading can be measured by the amount of time readers invest in the reading process. It is hypothesized that disengagement is marked by a decrease in time investment as compared with the demands made on the reader by the text. In this study, self-paced reading times for screens of text were predicted by a text complexity score…

Recent research has emphasized the key role of engagement in helping students succeed in school and beyond. Given the academic struggles that many English learners (ELs) face as they transition to middle school, exploring the facets of engagement in middle school ELs is needed. We established reader profiles for eight sixth grade Hispanic ELs and…

With the growing prevalence of Web 2.0 technologies and use of online resources in their classrooms, language learners have increasing exposure to online texts. In this study we attempted to understand how university level second language (L2) readers construct meaning when reading online. We investigated L2 readers' information-seeking strategies…

Despite the importance of writing analytically in response to texts, there are few assessments measuring students' mastery of this skill. This manuscript describes the development of a response-to-text assessment (RTA) intended for use in research. In a subsequent validity investigation we examined whether the RTA distinguished among classrooms in…

The purpose of this study is to determine how behavioral symptoms of inattention predict rapid automatized naming (RAN) performance and reading skills in typically developing children. Participants included 104 third- and fourth-grade children from different elementary schools in mid-Michigan. RAN performance was assessed using the four Rapid…

This article reports on a study that examined the choice and use of academic reading strategies of adult learners who were identified as proficient and less proficient readers. The major objective was to explore the potential influence of their adult characteristics on their use of their academic reading strategies. Data were gathered using…

Reading difficulties and disabilities present serious and potentially lifelong challenges. Children who do not read well are more likely to be retained a grade in school, drop out of high school, become a teen parent, or enter the juvenile justice system. Building on the extant research and seminal studies, including the National Reading Panel and…

Eleven tests of reading comprehension, language skills, and cognitive processes were administered to 20 high school readers with learning disabilities and 20 controls. The variance on nonverbal tests was greater for the group with LD than for the controls; some individuals with learning disabilities performed as well as the controls. (Author/DB)

The predictions that 48 students with deafness in grades 4-8 made while reading narrative text were analyzed to explore the influence of the children's expectations for text structure and content on reading comprehension. Findings indicated that interacting at a deep level with narrative text was more related to reader characteristics than to…

Researchers examined cognitive processes used to construct meaning from narrative text in successful and less successful ninth grade readers. A coding system analyzed think-aloud protocols students recorded while reading two stories. Students were primarily story-driven readers. Differences between stories rarely affected their responses.…

Noting that metacognition plays a vital role in reading, this report summarizes research dealing with the development of metacognition in an especially important type of reading--reading to learn. The report is organized around four categories of metacognitive knowledge and control: (1) the text, (2) the task to be performed by the learner as…

Researchers examined student listening and reading performance to determine weaknesses in listening and reading comprehension, questioning whether performances of students with such problems suggest differences in processing strategies. Results showed significant between-group listening and reading differences. Using listening to measure optimal…

The factors that influence the performance of undergraduate students in introductory biology courses were studied, considering cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral factors. From 612 participants volunteering, 52 consistent high performers and 57 consistent low performers were selected. Information was collected on their study habits,…