This quarterly newsletter includes a variety of articles on the teaching of English as a second language. The first article discusses the use of the enquiry method and problem solving as classroom procedures. This approach involves the development of four cognitive processes: framing questions, imposing order on data, making extrapolations, and…

Literacy is the manipulation of thoughts and language to express ideas. It helps to build an understanding of various texts, people and situations, and promotes self-empowerment. Global society depends increasingly on literacy as a major factor for progress. Unfortunately, at a time when the ability to read and write is becoming imperative in…

Discussion of the relationship between reading ability and library quality and use focuses on results of a multiple regression analysis of data that examined fourth-grade scores on the 1992 NAEP Reading Comprehension test. Highlights include books per student in school library media centers, circulation in public libraries, and software available.…

Efforts toward predicting reading failure have been principally directed at assessing the child's strengths and weaknesses with reference to a limited number of reading correlates under conditions dissimilar to those in which he will be later expected to perform. Because this type of readiness model does not take into consideration a number of…

This report summarizes the findings of a February 1971 administration of a revised and expanded version of the Wisconsin Basic Prereading Skill Test to 138 kindergartners. The test battery being developed has two purposes: (a) the identification of prereading skill deficits in kindergartners for individualized curriculum planning, and (b) the…

A survey of the current status of 25 reading readiness tests provides a summary of tests devised or updated over the last 10 years as reviewed in O.K. Buros "The Seventh Mental Measurements Yearbook" (1972), and a review of another six tests which have appeared since 1972. (IM)

Examined the reliability and validity of the Individual Reading Readiness Inventory (IRRI) and determined that it could be used with confidence as a measure to predict the extent to which children would profit from formal reading instruction in kindergarten. (Author/RWB)

Research indicated that visual discrimination training could compensate for the impulsive response style of first-graders on reading tests. (GW)

"Readiness for reading" is a phrase familiar to anyone interested in the teaching of reading. Readiness is an essential factor in any phase of learning. If the individual is to learn, some foundation for that learning must be established. Relatively few articles concerning the place of readiness in areas other than reading appear in educational…

The Kindergarten Teacher Rating Scale is shown to be a valid predictor of first-grade reading achievement in a study of predictive validity and classification accuracy. The scale's success in explaining the variance in first-grade reading scores and correctly classifying students is compared to that of reading readiness tests. (Author/CM)

This study assessed how some key measurement issues were considered in the context of a specific integrated reading and writing assessments conducted at each of seven grade levels in the Riverside (California) Unified School District. Data are reported for the following parameters: (1) test reliability; (2) test validity; (3) scoring; (4) scaling;…

The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), here summarized for administrators, are intended to provide information about the skills development of individual students and about relative strengths and weaknesses of the instructional program. The ITBS represents the first comprehensive elementary school and secondary school statewide testing program in…

Changes to the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) that will be introduced in the 1993-94 academic year are reviewed, with attention to edumetric factors such as relationship of curriculum and instructional practice to test design and the impact of the changes. The new SAT will put increased emphasis on critical reading skills to reflect developments…

In the spring of 1991, officials from Lamar High School in Houston (Texas) requested a study of their tracking system and its relation to student achievement. This paper reports the results of the evaluation. Many of the courses at Lamar High School are associated with four instructional levels: (1) remedial; (2) regular; (3) college bound; and…