Meta-analysis is a frequent tool among education and behavioral researchers to combine results from multiple experiments to arrive at a clear understanding of some effect of interest. One of the traditional assumptions in a meta-analysis is the independence of the effect sizes from the studies under consideration. This article presents a…

In the present research, the psychometric models of Rasch and Guttman are used to illustrate contrasting yet complementary approaches to investigating reading skill hierarchies. The models share a general conclusion, but specific results from the Rasch model underscore its greater potential as a reading skills diagnostic technique. (Author/LMO)

Concludes that performance on selected items of a reading comprehension test can be predicted on the basis of performance on Piagetian classification tasks, even when other factors are controlled by a highly parallel subtest. (HOD)

Second, fourth, and sixth graders were given passage of text whose material could be represented as four-level class inclusion hierarchy. Students were asked to construct external representation of passage and answer questions that required them to reason about contents of passage. Quality of representation and performance on question tasks were…

Three experiments (which used adults and 14-year-old children) studied the congruence between textual input at encoding and output in the form of memory reproductions. Results verified a very close correspondence between encoding and retrieval regarding hierarchically structural operations on the information in simple stories. (AN)

Explores the validity of skill hierarchies in reading comprehension. Finds no differences in comprehension skills between subjects receiving or not receiving comprehension skills instruction. Argues for a unitary or holistic view of reading comprehension. Argues for increasing the time students spend reading self-selected materials. Suggests…

Two experiments investigated the focusing properties of thematic roles, and a third examined the view that thematic role preferences reflect a focusing on the consequences of the represented event. Results focus on the structure of represented events, top-down and bottom-up processes, thematic hierarchies and pronoun comprehension. (35 references)…

Examines three strategies designed to help middle school students use text structures to comprehend expository text: (1) hierarchical summaries, (2) conceptual maps, and (3) thematic organizers. Summarizes advantages and disadvantages of each strategy and recommends that teachers consider the outcomes they want and select the most appropriate…