Through a synthesis of test publisher norms and national longitudinal datasets, this study provides new national norms of academic growth in K-12 reading and math that can be used to reinterpret conventional effect sizes in time units. We propose d' a time-indexed effect size metric to estimate how long it would take for an "untreated"…

By presenting a brief general history of educators' efforts and struggles to influence the intellectual and social growth of young children, it will help the reader understand why the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI), a research and consulting group concerned with instructional practices, sought for and obtained funds from the U.S.…

This article reviews "The Early Reading Diagnostic Assessment, Second Edition" (ERDA-Second Edition), a norm-referenced individually administered diagnostic measure of early reading skills as described in Reading First federal legislation (Part B, Subpart 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by the No Child Left…

This study investigated the effects of story mapping on reading comprehension. Subjects, 20 second-grade students of below-average reading achievement, were presented over a 10-week period with activities in story mapping utilizing a variety of story map frames. The Metropolitan Achievement Test was administered as a pre- and posttest. Results…

A study investigated whether basal reading instruction combined with whole language development instruction would help a group of sixth graders improve in reading skills as measured by the Metropolitan Reading Test. Subjects, 82 students from a metropolitan area in the Southwest, were given pretests and posttests which measured performance in word…

THIS STUDY IS PART OF THE CRAFT READING PROJECT OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM WHICH IS INVESTIGATING THE READING PROGRESS OF DISADVANTAGED URBAN NEGRO CHILDREN. IN THE PRESENT STUDY, CHILDREN IN GRADES ONE, TWO, AND THREE, WITH AND WITHOUT PREVIOUS KINDERGARTEN EXPERIENCE, WERE TAUGHT READING BY TWO BASIC METHODS, EACH DIVIDED INTO TWO…

This report describes one of a series of pilot studies conducted to evaluate the instructional effectiveness of the Harcourt Reading Program. The study focused on the program's primary levels and included Grades 1 and 3. Participants, teachers who had not used the program previously, were encouraged to select one theme to pilot over a 6-week…

This study contrasted the psycholinguistic abilities of good and poor readers from disadvantaged backgrounds after completion of the first grade, using the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities. It was predicted that disadvantaged children classified as poor readers would be significantly inferior to those identified as good readers on…

DISTAR programs were used in learning assistance classes at five Vancouver schools during 1971-72. Those pupils who were taught with the DISTAR Arithmetic program made sizable gains in scores on the Arithmetic subtest of the Metropolitan Achievement Test, but the difference between the gains made by experimental and control groups in arithmetic…

THE SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF A BEGINNING READING PROGRAM IN A HARLEM (NEW YORK CITY) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ARE DISCUSSED. INDIVIDUAL PACING OF INSTRUCTION, ORAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF INDEPENDENT STUDY SKILLS, PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT OF EACH CHILD, AND FREQUENT STUDENT EVALUATION ARE INTRINSIC TO THE FUNCTIONING OF THE PROGRAM.…

A PILOT EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED TO TEST THE EFFECT OF A SPECIALLY DEVISED PHONIC APPROACH TO EARLY READING IS DESCRIBED. THE PHONIC METHOD USED ACHIEVED SOUND-SYMBOL REGULARITY AND HAD THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS--(1) CONSONANT GRAPHEMES EACH REPRESENTED ONLY ONE SOUND AND WERE PRINTED USING NEARLY STANDARD ALPHABETIC SYMBOLS. (2) EACH VOWEL…

This discussion of assessing students' reading abilities focuses on the need for developing better tests and better interpretation of test scores. Criterion-referenced tests versus norm-referenced tests are described, highlighting the Degrees of Reading Power and Metropolitan Achievement Tests: Reading, and the need for assessing the reading…

A study examined the effectiveness of the Writing-to-Read Computer Program in elementary school language arts education. The program is designed to teach children to read through interacting with a computer by learning sound/symbol relationships and by composing stories. First through fourth graders from predominantly black, urban schools and from…

Examines the validity of estimates of instructional reading level produced by the Reading Comprehension Test of the 1986 Metropolitan Achievement Tests (MAT). Compares reading level estimates provided by the MAT, basal reader placement tests, an informal reading inventory, and classroom teachers' judgments. Suggests that each method, because of…

In 1997, the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education established an agreement with Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. to enable Sylvan to provide supplementary reading instruction to selected students in 10 elementary, middle, and high schools. An evaluation was conducted to determine the extent to which Sylvan met its goals. Data indicate that…