Examines the first-grade materials in five new basal programs submitted for the 1993 Texas state adoption, comparing them with program materials currently in use in the state. Finds substantial changes in the more recent series. Interprets findings in terms of historical trends as well as recent developments in the literature-based and…

Reports on a study stemming from schema theory that assessed the role that background knowledge plays in determining young children's ability to process relationships that are explicitly and fully specified in a text, in comparison to those that are only partially specified by the same text. (Author/HOD)

Describes the reading skills of postkindergarten precocious readers. Finds no meaningful weaknesses in their average skill pattern; their strengths mirrored weakness identified among disabled readers; they were especially rapid text readers; they drew on especially strong phonological analysis skills as well as orthographic processes; but average…

Examines cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational factors as predictors of individual differences in the reading comprehension abilities of good and poor readers. Finds that regression analyses within subgroups indicated word recognition was the most important predictor variable for poor readers, whereas perceived competence predicted the…

Uses videotapes of children reading stories to examine good and poor readers' comprehension evaluation and regulation while reading inconsistent stories. Finds good readers are more likely to look back at inconsistencies during reading, to give accurate verbal reports of passage inconsistency following reading, and to recall text inconsistencies.…

Third grade students' comprehension scores suggest that there is a significant difference between three modes of reception (oral reading, silent reading, and listening), with oral reading significantly more effective than silent reading in promoting comprehension. (HOD)

Compares use of two decoding strategies in fifth-sixth grade normal and dyslexic children, and younger normals reading-aged-matched to the dyslexic students. Finds dyslexics lag behind age-matched normals in use of both strategies, and behind reading-age-matched normals in use of analogies, but not rules. (RS)

Contrasts the effects of a storybook reading approach to traditional reading readiness approaches on the literacy development of urban at-risk kindergarten children. Finds that the storybook reading groups scored significantly higher on a variety of literacy measures. Finds no significant differences between the groups on standardized measures of…

Compares remedial readers to more proficient readers in their meaning-making processes during the reading of literary text. Reveals that the remedial readers spend a disproportionate amount of being out of "envisionments"--either attempting to step into one or failing to step in. (MG)

The reading storage test and the paraphrase test were compared to determine the extent to which each test was sensitive to the comprehension of prose passages as opposed to word memorization. (HOD)

A study assessed and compared the syntax in the oral language of six-, seven-, and eight-year-olds with the syntax in the written language of reading instruction textbooks prepared for children of the same age. (HOD)

Discusses research which compared the performance of children with reading disabilities to the performance of normal readers, matched for age and reading level, in a backward-masking letter-identification and localization task. (JM)

Investigates the effectiveness of instruction in story mapping as a means to promote first-grade students' comprehension of central story elements in children's literature. Concludes that instruction in story mapping is an effective instructional strategy for promoting first-grade students' ability to identify central narrative elements in…

Examines the comparative use of grapho/phonic and syntactic/semantic cues for ongoing word recognition by readers in grades two, four, six, and eight reading both silently and orally. Finds a greater number of altered words were identified in the oral compared to the silent reading mode in grades four, six, and eight. (RS)