A study investigated the reading achievement and reading interests of eighth graders reading meaningful segments from social studies textbooks. Subjects, 88 eighth-grade students enrolled in the Florida State University Developmental Research School, took several tests and inventories designed to gather data in the areas of capacity, achievement,…

A study investigated the ability of university undergraduates in introductory classes to study effectively. Subjects, 64 students in a western civilization class and 68 students in a sociology class at a moderately sized comprehensive university in a northern plains state, were administered a cloze passage constructed from the textbook being used,…

A study was conducted to address the problem of all students not learning to read in the same manner when the instruction was limited to only one approach, that of the basal reader with its phonics emphasis. The Reading Style Inventory, the Swassing-Barbe Modality Index, and the Bradway Quick Check were administered to the students attending the…

The 1989-90 Compensatory Language Experiences and Reading-Recovery (CLEAR-RR) Program of the Columbus, Ohio Public Schools was implemented to provide early intervention to 514 underachieving first-grade pupils who appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without intensive instruction. Specially trained teachers provided one-on-one half-hour…

A study examined the relative comprehension difficulty and the influence of reader and text characteristics on reading comprehension for texts presented in traditional print or on the microcomputer screen. Two urban samples of mixed ethnicity were used, 95 low reading level high school students (grades 9 through 12) and 112 high ability eighth…

A study examined the changing role and status of the elementary school teacher as projected in the teachers' guides that accompany reading textbooks. Twelve fifth-grade teachers' guides for each decade since 1920 were analyzed by scrutinizing every sixth chapter, story, or lesson for (1) physical characteristics, (2) testing components, (3) number…

To help college reading teachers develop an awareness of what standardized reading tests do and do not reveal about students' reading abilities, a study examined the testing of reading and criticized four major standardized tests. Results indicated that reading is tested through (1) reading passages accompanied by multiple choice questions, (2)…

Focusing on the personality of the reading disabled child, this booklet is designed to encourage researchers to move past the circular debate concerning student reading difficulties and to help teachers improve the reading performance of students with disabling stress reactions to reading. The first section examines research related to emotional…

A review of research data focused on the effects of parental involvement on children's reading achievement and ways in which parents can help promote children's reading achievement. The review included 35 studies (which are briefly summarized) of (1) parents' attitudes about their involvement in their child's education, (2) the positive effects of…

A study investigated the ways in which the provision for adult literacy in Northern Ireland has developed since 1975. Questionnaires were circulated to program organizers, tutors, and other personnel to determine (1) enrollment patterns, (2) program organization and the evolution toward "adult basic education," (3) personnel resources…

A substantial amount of literature in education and psychology supports the notion that reading combined with writing enhances comprehension and recall. To investigate how various writing tasks affect thinking, a pilot study was conducted, which produced results consistent with the hypothesis that text engagement (student interaction with written…

Intended to help classroom teachers, curriculum developers, and researchers, this book provides current information on theoretical and instructional aspects of main idea comprehension. Titles and authors are as follows: "The Confused World of Main Idea" (James W. Cunningham and David W. Moore); "The Comprehension of Important…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) reading and writing as a transaction process; (2) a literacy study among the Amish; (3) readers' representations of writers' aims in expository, persuasive, and ironic discourse; (4)…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 28 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the usefulness of peer-shared reading information in primary-grade reading groups; (2) development and evaluation of a sustained silent reading program in…

Conducted as the third in a series of four investigations of teacher explanation of reading skills, a study examined the relationship between explicit teacher explanation and student awareness of lesson content and reading achievement gains. Subjects were seven fifth-grade teachers and their respective low-reading ability groups. The teachers were…