The purpose of this study was to examine the severity of behavioral and emotional problems among adolescents with poor and typical single word reading ability (N = 188) recruited from public schools and followed for a median of 2.4 years. Youth and parents were repeatedly assessed to obtain information regarding the severity and course of symptoms…

Narrow reading means reading in only one genre, one subject matter, or the work of one author. The case for narrow reading was first presented over twenty years ago (Krashen, 1981). Narrow reading, it was argued, has the advantage of providing the developing reader with a familiar context, that is, familiar background knowledge that helps make…

While the critical importance of phonological awareness (segmental phonology) to reading ability is well established, the potential role of prosody (suprasegmental phonology) in reading development has only recently been explored. This study examined the relationship between children's prosodic skills and reading ability. Hierarchical multiple…

In a sample of 506 Chinese adolescents living in Canada from 3 cohort groups, age at the time of arrival in Canada, length of stay in Canada, socioeconomic status, and English reading ability predicted acculturation. The results of the study discussed in this article showed English reading ability and socioeconomic status predicted acculturative…

Although schools across the country are investing heavily in computers in the classroom, there is surprisingly little evidence that they actually improve student achievement. In this paper, we present results from a randomized study of a well-defined use of computers in schools: a popular instructional computer program, known as Fast ForWord,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of Bandura's (1997) hypothesized sources of self-efficacy on the academic and self-regulatory efficacy beliefs of entering middle school students ("N" = 263) and to explore whether these sources differ as a function of gender, reading ability, and race/ethnicity. For the full sample, mastery…

This study examined several aspects of Passage Reading Fluency (PRF) including performance variability across passages alternative designs for measuring PRF gain, and effects on PRF level from retesting with the same passages. Participants were 33 students from grades 2 to 10 attending a school for students with learning disabilities. PRF was…

Two studies investigated whether knowledge of specific letter-sound correspondences is a necessary precursor of children's ability to isolate phonemes in speech. In both studies, Czech and English children reliably isolated phonemes for which they did not know the corresponding letter. These data refute the idea that phoneme manipulation ability…

A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate whether specific reading disorder (SRD) groups demonstrate a deficit in using phonological recoding strategies. Thirty-four studies were reviewed that had compared the nonword reading performances of SRD groups with reading-level matched (RL) control groups. The average nonword reading difference…

This study focused on teacher-education students taking a special-education language-arts course in which information about English word structure was taught. The relationship between students' component reading-related abilities and their performance on three measures of word-structure knowledge, before and after course instruction about word…

Should instruments, such as Likert-type scales, contain both positively worded and negatively worded items within the same scale (i.e. mixed format)? Recent evidence suggests that the use of scales with a mixed format can adversely affect the psychometric properties of scales. In particular, the mean item response to the positively worded items…

The teaching and learning of phonics are core elements of a balanced literacy program for people with intellectual disabilities. Studies have shown that individuals who have limited phonic and decoding skills will be unlikely to progress in their reading ability beyond an emergent level and are more likely to experience difficulty in…

The reading, analyzing and critiquing of primary literature in both writing and oral forms are daunting tasks for science undergraduates. These activities are recognized as skills that science undergraduates should develop in order to improve their scientific communication abilities.

Background: In this study, 2 main hypotheses have been put forward to explain the variation in childhood intelligence or school performance by season of birth. In the first hypothesis, it is suggested that it is due to school policy concerning school entry, whereas the second suggests that a seasonally patterned exposure such as temperature,…

Paulo Freire and Lorenzo Milani are considered as key figures in a number of Southern European countries for providing signposts for a critical approach to education. In this paper I will view their ideas and biographical trajectories comparatively to glean some important insights for a critical pedagogy. The common theme throughout this…