The Second Year Communication Skills Program (SYCSP) consists of instructional materials and procedures designed to improve the reading skills of first-grade children. The reading achievement of students was measured in 10 classrooms using the SYCSP. The Second Year Program Test, used to judge the effectiveness of the program, was administered to…

The relative value of individual or small group tutoring and isolated or contextual phrase presentation on the reading achievement scores, self-concepts, and reading attitudes of 78 inner-city third-grade Mexican-American subjects was explored in this study. All subjects received regular classroom reading instruction, but the contrast group was…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether boys read to by their fathers for the six-month period immediately preceding entrance into first grade would score significantly higher on predictor instruments for first-grade reading achievement when compared with boys read to by their mothers or boys in an unplanned situation for the same…

This study questions the developmental nature of the ability to understand syntactic structures. An exploration is made of the possibility of learning more about reading comprehension and readability by examining responses made to sentences described by transformational grammarians as structurally ambiguous. A group of fifth grade students were…

This study investigates the factors that have a bearing on the elementary urban child's standardized reading test scores. Three areas were investigated: parental contact with the school, supportive services that the child received, and the teacher's perception of the child's behavior and the behavior of the child's class. The study included 637…

This study was planned as two parts. In the first part, a prereading index similar to the ones created for kindergarteners was developed for preschool age children. The second part was an examination of the relationship between the prereading measure and four contextual variables. Thirty-six 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 year-old children were randomly selected…

The overall effectiveness of the Title I program is questionable, according to this report to Congress. Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act authorizes federal financial assistance for programs designed to meet the special educational needs of educationally deprived children living in areas with high concentrations of children…

The lack of reading instruction for seventh and eighth graders is detrimental to their academic development at a most crucial educational period. This study presents both theory and data which substantiate the need for including reading as a specific curriculum element in the middle school. Middle school organizational plans are outlined and…

Data drawn from the Arizona statewide testing program were used to relate selected factors to third-grade reading achievement in a representative sample of 50 school districts. Analyses of scores on the Metropolitan Achievement Test indicated that reading scores were positively related to the average market value of single residences within the…

Designed to provide data establishing the effects of individualization, teacher directiveness, and learner support on reading achievement, this study utilized 118 first-grade classrooms representing 44 schools located in suburban, rural, city, and inner city areas. Measurement of the three dimensions of the classroom environment was achieved…

Three reading tests were given as pretests and posttests to 1,752 students in grades one through six in 12 Title I elementary schools. Of these students, 935 were enrolled in a special, individualized reading program utilizing reading centers housed in each school. Self-instructional materials were used as part of a diagnostic-prescriptive…

The effect of tutoring on the reading achievement of disadvantaged Puerto Rican college freshmen studying English as a second language was the focus of this study. Three instructional approaches were compared: directed tutoring, nondirected tutoring, and traditional classroom instruction. Directed tutors' activities were prescribed by a sequence…

This study examined the effects of three reading programs on the reading comprehension and vocabulary of 895 fifth graders and sixth graders. One program used a conventional basal reader; the second used the supplementary, behaviorally referenced Brentwood Educational System for Testing (BEST) and conventional basal reading materials; the third…

This study investigated the relationship between organizational climate and selected organizational variables--reading achievement, teacher experience, and teacher attrition. The study sample consisted of the total teaching staffs and 642 randomly selected students from five elementary schools in a metropolitan school district. Data were collected…

This study attempted to answer the following questions: Are all the concepts that reading tests are attempting to measure being taught in school? What are the characteristics of effective reading programs in school (e.g., amount of time, methods, materials, assistance, and support)? and What community-based variables are related to reading…