A CONTINUATION OF A STUDY OF PUPILS' ABILITY TO FORMULATE AND STATE A LITERAL MAIN IDEA IN THE READING OF SHORT, SPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED PARAGRAPHS IS REPORTED. ONE OF THE MAJOR TASKS WAS TO DEVELOP A DESCRIPTIVE PROFILE OF THE MAIN IDEA RESPONSES FOR A GROUP OF 400 SECOND- AND FIFTH-GRADE PUPILS. A 12-POINT SCALE WAS USED FOR THE NUMERICAL ORDERING…

The study of reading in restricted contexts ultimately short changes children. The continuous proliferation of research data results in teacher training courses that are overloaded with marginally relevant material. A vast number of "teachable skills" are isolated, and well-meaning publishers produce sophisticated but unnecessary materials;…

The purpose of this project, begun in July 1970, was to learn what American adults read, and what they are able to read, as they go about their ordinary activities in the course of a normal day. A national survey of the reading activities of adults was administered to 5,096 individuals. Some conclusions drawn from the survey data are as follows:…

The functional literacy of various groups of 17-year-old students was assessed to discover whether the reading skills which are usually taught in the schools are adequate for functioning in everyday life. Eighty-six test exercises were classified according to the various formats of reading materials they represent and according to the types of…

A digest of findings from a national survey by Louis Harris and Associates of adult reading skills comprises this edition of Adult Reading Development, a publication of the National Reading Center. The study measured the ability of adults to respond to practical real-life situations such as reading direct-dial instructions in a telephone directory…

Presents a test on abbreviations used in classified employment advertisements which may be used in survival reading skills instruction. (MKM)

The fundamental Reading Competencies Test assesses proficiency with respect to well-defined functional reading skills of high school students. Validity and reliability data for the test are presented. (Author/JKS)

Discusses the decisions made in the development of a functional literacy test used in Philadelphia. (MKM)

Reviews five commercially available tests of functional literacy and discusses two concerns related to the testing of functional literacy. (MKM)

Describes the development of a criterion referenced minimum-competency test in reading which was normed by community job holders and based on the ability to answer questions about items taken from a newspaper. (MKM)

Consists of practical classroom techniques. Topics covered are: (1) reading/studies skills techniques for college freshmen, (2) teaching main ideas, (3) a team approach to content area reading, (4) readers theatre, (5) survival skills, (6) passage dependence tests, (7) leisure reading, and (8) using music in informal diagnosis and motivation. (MKM)

The purpose of this study was to compare the results obtained from a cloze test with the results obtained from an informal reading inventory in establishing the functional reading levels of selected third grade students of varying reading abilities. The subjects consisted of 100 third grade students. The following tests are given: the…

This taxonomy is designed to be used by teachers who are preparing New York state students to take the Tests of General Educational Development (GED). The skills included in this taxonomy are representative of those skills which must be mastered in order to pass the reading skills test of the current six-hour GED. Educational objectives in the…

Adaptive assessment procedures are a means of determining the quality of a reader's performance in a variety of reading situations and on a variety of written materials. Such procedures are consistent with the idea that there are functional competencies which change with the reading task. Adaptive assessment takes into account that a lack of…

This paper describes a research project which was designed to analyze the extent of functional literacy at different grade levels in Sweden. Functional literacy is defined here as the use of the mechanics of reading for different information purposes. A test battery was administered to 2600 students in grades six through twelve. The test battery…