A review of research about newspaper readership and circulation suggests that the key to understanding circulation patterns is to test in unison the solid predictors of readership (home ownership, population, income, media competition, and shared circulation) along with some of the more subtle correlates (such as social activity). Although these…

Among the CRAFT project total population of 1,378 disadvantaged urban children, 58, or 4 percent, were identified at the beginning of first grade as early readers on the basis of their ability to identify words in print. All children in the study were taught to read by either the Skills Centered or the Language Experience Approach. Achievement…

Highlights from the 16th annual Reading Conference of Lehigh University are organized under the following major headings: The Voice of Theory, The Voice of Practice, and The Words of Reform. Some of the papers presented deal with the following: (1) the use of films, records, and filmstrips as a way of introducing picture books to children in…

This study investigated the relative importance of the major factors associated with the habit of reading or nonreading. Some 2,731 seventh-grade students were the subjects of the study; from these, 487 were identified as either readers or nonreaders, and, from this group, 22 students were selected for additional in-depth case studies. From over…

In order to determine the variables which influence children's choice of books, 52 second-grade students from one elementary school were selected and interviewed. Twenty books, which circulated most frequently among second-grade children, were designated "high preference"; another 20, randomly selected from 634 books which were borrowed only once,…

Phyllis Whitney, author of more than 30 juvenile novels and 20 adult novels, offers specific advice to aspiring writers on how to write, and sell, fiction for young people. Telling a good story, entertaining the reader, is the most important factor in each of the four divisions of children's books. These divisions can be structured roughly…

This study was designed to consider whether, by introducing fourth grade children to books by two promotional techniques, teachers can influence: (1) the amount of personal reading done by children, (2) which books these children select for personal reading, and (3) the attitude of the children toward the books they select. In each of reading, and…

This monograph reports the results of a national study conducted to determine the names of the novels students are most commonly required to read in their high school English courses and the names of their favorite novels, and to recommend methods for teaching novels. The sample for the survey was drawn from the membership of the Conference of…

This dissertation documents the different ways in which specialists approach science fiction. Descriptions of courses are presented for four universities, two four-year colleges, and one two-year community college. At all the schools, science fiction is a medium for social criticism. Otherwise the courses differ in content, format, and the methods…

The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the preferences of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade urban black children with regard to characters, type of setting and story in books and the relationship between these preferences and grade level, sex, and socioeconomic status. Three hundred seven black students were read to from 15 books of five…

The 21 reading projects described in this report range from a bilingual reading project for second-grade students to a secondary school reading project in career education. Objectives of some of the other projects described include: to motivate pupils to read for pleasure, to develop skill in reading and learn the use of reference materials in the…

The purposes of this study were to identify teacher competencies and practices recommended by authorities for promoting interest in reading, and to determine if there were any observable differences in students' reporting of the amount of books read and "really liked" between classes whose teachers were ranked high in competencies and practices,…

The criteria used to compare the effectiveness of the individualized and basal reader approaches in this study were based on vocabulary, comprehension, and attitude toward reading as well as the number, type, and difficulty of books voluntarily read during second grade. Near the end of kindergarten, children in three schools were randomly assigned…

A 6-year research project which investigated sex differences in beginning reading in the Los Angeles City Schools is reported. In 1962-63 approximately 550 first-grade children were taught reading in sex-segregated groups. It was found that boys grouped together did not gain significantly more than those in heterogeneous sex groups and that girls'…

If for no other reason, junior high exists for the exceptional reading opportunity it provides; intensification and diversification of skills, some ease and stability in dealing with varying content structures, and enrichment of personal reading. The adolescent, at his peak period of personal reading, is still not fully determined as to his…