Discusses the authors' research regarding the traditional prereading element designated by beginning reading programs as "setting a purpose for reading." (Author/DB)

A study investigated whether comprehension of a text could be enhanced by careful structuring of the lesson elements surrounding it. One group of ten second grade children received a reading lesson as prescribed in a basal series that directed attention to irrelevant content while failing to highlight consistently important story elements. A…

The following assumptions motivated this monograph's analysis of commercial based reading programs: (1) basals represent the state of the art in reading instruction; (2) to offer suggestions for improvement of instruction, existing practices must be understood in detail; and (3) information about instruction contained in the literature at large or…

Two of the most widely used reading programs in the country, the 1976 Houghton Mifflin Reading Series and the 1976 Ginn Reading 720 Series, are analyzed in this volume to determine the methods they suggest for teaching reading comprehension. Eight sections contain the following information: (1) a short description of some of the surface features…