Twenty-seven summaries of first-grade reading studies sponsored by the United States Office of Education are included. The studies, done in the 1964-65 school year, were made in different localities, and each was concerned with a different problem. More than one-half of the directors were full-time college professors; a few were senior authors of…

This study attempted to assess the effect of behavior modification techniques on community college open enrollment students with severe educational deficits. Of 30 suburban New York members of a reading class, half were exposed to direct teaching, instructor praise, peer partners, self and peer ratings, role playing, Premack contracts,…

An overall view of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) and its use with various groups of people are presented. The first part contains five addresses in which the historical background for i.t.a. is reviewed and insight into the man who invented it is given. Part 2 presents research reports of prefirst-grade and first-grade beginning reading…

This single volume constitutes the third and fourth yearbooks of the North Central Reading Association and consists of most of the papers presented at the 1963 and 1964 annual meetings of the NCRA. The papers are grouped into four sections: Discrimination, Information Theory, Skill Therapy and Skill Training, and The Visual Process. Among the…

Two hypotheses were tested in this study: that second grade students who receive instruction and practice in nonsubstantive test taking techniques will achieve higher standardized reading test scores than second grade students who do not receive this instruction and practice both immediately following treatment and four months after treatment. The…

Examines a program in Denmark that uses metalinguistic games and exercises to stimulate preschool children's discovery of the phonological structure of language. Concludes that phonological awareness can be developed outside the context of the acquisition of an alphabetic writing system, and that this awareness facilitates subsequent reading and…

Evaluates and compares English graphophonic and word knowledge of anglophone children in French immersion (FI) programs with those of children in regular English (ENG) classrooms. Reveals no differences between the FI and ENG children in kindergarten, but ENG students scored higher at the end of Grades 1 and 2 on most measures. (NKA)

Analyzes how two groups of eighth graders and their teacher create literary texts during small group discussion, and suggests the importance of talk as a means of constructing meaning. (NKA)

While more research needs to be done in the area of adolescent literacy, there is growing agreement about some of the characteristics successful literacy intervention programs share. The purpose of this brief is to provide information to help policymakers, educators, parents, and others concerned with adolescent literacy make informed decisions…

How do some students extract complex information from advanced reading materials while others struggle to find the meaning of even simple passages? What characteristics do strategic readers exhibit that others don't possess? Unlocking the cognitive strategies of exceptional readers means finding ways to teach every student to read strategically,…

This study describes a program designed to improve student reading fluency. The targeted population consisted of first and third grade students in a growing urban community in the Midwest. Evidence for the existence of the problem included standardized test scores and independent computer reports that measured academic achievement, phonic…

Junior high school students involved in a reading/current events program developed by Visual Education Consultants got higher scores on a current affairs test, reported increases in reading newspapers, listened to more news on radio and television, and read more about national and world news. (RL)

Recent research on vocabulary development is reviewed, highlighting issues related to diverse learners. The review included studies of students who are low performers; learning or reading disabled; remedial readers; high achievers; and students who are culturally disadvantaged, language delayed, and linguistically diverse. Areas of convergence in…

An action research project implemented a program for improving the reading skills of at-risk middle school students. The targeted population consisted of fifth- and seventh-grade students in a rural, middle class community located in northeastern Illinois. Evidence for the problem includes teacher observation, checklists, standardized tests, and…

A study investigated the effects of sex and grade in school on students' reading proficiency, students' beliefs about their reading, parents' beliefs about the students' reading, and teacher's beliefs about the students' reading. The study also examined causal relationships between student, parent, and teacher beliefs and students' reading…