Elementary school teachers acknowledge the need for better writing instruction, but seldom have time for it within their already crowded curricula. Writing instruction suffers from placing skills development before writing activities, from emphasis on reading, and because many teachers are not well prepared to teach writing. A low priority is…

To determine if integrating course content with reading study skills would (1) increase student learning of course content and (2) improve students' general reading achievement, one section of a reading education course for preservice teachers was taught reading study skills along with course content; two sections were given no classroom…

This paper discusses the concept of literacy and proposes several theses with regard to the difficulty experienced by youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds in acquiring literacy in present-day school environments. It recommends studies to explore the funding of programs designed to improve schools as educational organizations, rather than…

By comparing high school students' total English scores on the California Achievement Test (CAT) and observing differences in performance based on grade level and gender, a recent study investigated whether significant differences exist between the achievement of students taught in an English phase-elective mini-course system and the achievement…

A reading program evaluation was conducted by the school district of Eugene, Oregon, during the 1976-1977 school year. Three major questions were to be answered: (1) Are the district's elementary reading programs effective according to the district's reading scope and sequence? (2) What makes effective programs effective? (3) If programs are not…

Noting the positive relationships between reading skills and academic performance, a study investigated the relationship between the reading skills of 172 freshmen in developmental reading courses and the number of college preparatory courses completed in high school. It was hypothesized that there would be a significantly positive relationship…

This study investigates the effects of social relationships curricula and sex differences on reading readiness and imaginativeness. The subjects were ninety-six 5-year-olds from four kindergarten classrooms. In the pre- and post-assessment phase of the study the children were administered the Gates MacGinitie Reading Readiness Skills Test and the…

Curriculum-based assessment (CBA) and curriculum-based measurement (CBM) procedures are increasingly being utilized to assess student academic skills for educational decision-making, including screening, progress monitoring, entitlement and intervention planning. At the same time, school districts are increasingly compelled to administer local and…

Research studies investigating group differences in academic achievement consistently document lower scores for blacks than for whites, who typically score about one standard deviation above their black counterparts. Many controversial explanations for black achievement deficits have been advanced, ranging from cultural deprivation to inferior…

A study examined the incorporation of computer games into English classrooms, seeking to explore computer games as text, players' engagement with them, literacies needed, and the interchangeability of traditional and newer technology. Subjects were students enrolled in a coeducational private middle school or a state secondary school, and used two…

Defining cognitive style as the modes an individual uses in perceiving, organizing, and labelling aspects of his or her environment, this paper is the first in a series concerning some implications of a learner's cognitive style for the development of reading competence. The paper identifies nine dimensions of cognitive style and then provides a…

Historically less emphasis has been put on the importance of attitude factors than on the skills of reading. When defining attitudes as a person's views, interests, expectations, and so on, attitude toward reading is a combination of all components that contribute to a person's underlying disposition to reading including expectations, interest,…

An examination of the Russian reading program, this report first describes the nature of American interest in Soviet education. Sections 3, 4, and 5 then present overviews of the Soviet cultural context, the structure of the Russian language, and the organization of the Soviet school system. Section 6 discusses the course of language study from…

A two-year project involved two elementary school faculties in planning curricular change. Both schools selected two major goals: to improve reading achievement scores and student self-concept. University personnel served in a consultant/trainer role. The school staffs expressed doubt about the feasibility or the necessity of the self-concept…

To learn about the problems inherent in the testing of basic skills and how these problems might be solved, the University of Cincinnati administered the "Pre-Professional Skills Test" (P-PST) to its junior education majors. Using a cut-off score of 170 on the P-PST, 30 students were found to need remediation in reading. These students…