Responds to criticism concerning a proposed model of evaluation for a Reading English for Science and Technology program. (seven references) (JL)

This paper is a reaction to the "Standards for Evaluations of Educational Programs, Projects and Materials," focusing on the applicability of these standards. The evaluation of programs almost without exception deals with the evaluation of change of programs, taking the form of comparative studies, and being valued according to how the…

Discusses a proposed "context adaptive" model for English-as-a-Second-Language program evaluation and suggests that the boundaries are set too narrowly within this model between phenomena and contexts and that the model of the Reading English for Science and Technology program in Guadalajara (Mexico) suffers from this constriction.…

A study examined how knowledgeable school administrators are about reading programs in their schools and if they are "doing what they are supposed to be doing." Subjects were administrators of 20 elementary schools who completed a 10-page questionnaire entitled "Reading Survey for Administrators." Results indicated that all…

In this commentary, the author identifies what, in her opinion, has been left out of the discussion of "scale up." She expresses particular concern that the rhetoric of scaling up, and the concomitant assertion of scientific underpinnings for programs brought to scale, may overstate the relation of the developers' programs and program materials to…

Discusses the content and structure of a computer-based instructional program in reading for disadvantaged adults and describes the design, test materials, procedures, and results of a formative evaluation with 36 pre-GED students in an Illinois Correctional Center. Results support the value of such complete computer-based reading comprehension…

Five essays for reading instructors at two-year colleges are provided in this issue of "Forum for Reading." First, Kent Smith notes the increased recruitment of underprepared students and argues that colleges are responsible for assuring that admissions personnel, administrators, and faculty know the types of students they can and cannot…

Investigated how intermediate students of French interacted with a computerized second language reading gloss from three perspectives: (1) the relationship between the group's choice of program options and their comprehension; (2) individual user styles; and (3) student perceptions of program effectiveness. (31 references) (Author/CK)

The problem of a perceived decline in secondary school students' reading comprehension and the efforts of one high school English department head to address that problem are described in this paper. The first section of the paper presents an extensive documentation of the decline in reading comprehension and of reactions by state and local…

Intended to provide a publication outlet for systematic and substantive reviews and syntheses, both empirical and theoretical, and for integrative reports of programatic research, this volume focuses on what children learn when learning to read, and how this learning can be facilitated. The first chapter of the volume offers an analysis of writing…