Describes methodology and results of a study examining the role of layout and graphic design in the legibility of instructional text displayed on cathode ray tubes. This report includes a multidimensional scaling analysis, an analysis of the stimuli and independent variables, and labeling and dimensions using adjective and interview data. (MBR)

Minimum reading comprehension of prospective teachers and average readability of required undergraduate textbooks are contrasted. The Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) test, which represents student test scores, and textbook readability measurements on the same scale was used. Teacher education program applicants in Kentucky participated. (Author/MLW)

Argues that children need to be taught how to extract, synthesize, organize, and integrate important information from texts into their own knowledge structures and describes some techniques that can be used to activate prior knowledge. (HOD)

Examines the claim that television does not actively involve the viewer cognitively in ways usually associated with mature information processing. Study is described that suggests active and differential processing of television information by viewers and an increase in the level of sophistication in understanding the medium. Twenty-six references…

Delineates the five skill areas needed to maximize computer competency--concept formation, comprehension, problem solving, study techniques, and occupational reading and employability skills. (CRH)

Discusses the design of a course in Mandarin Chinese developed by the US government's Interagency Language Roundtable after President Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China and its implications for vocabulary choice, the teaching of grammar, the use of dialogues, achievement tests, listening comprehension, and classroom activities.…

Reports on research from New Zealand showing that both teachers and students benefited from a concurrent interview technique in which teachers try to discover what their students understand, or fail to understand, from the material they read. (HOD)

Offers examples of lessons in conflict in reading material that can lead students to read critically, to seek further reading, and to enhance their comprehension.(HOD)

Reports the results of a survey of 640 high school biology teachers indicating that they may not be aware of the positive effects of prereading activities and other strategies for enhancing students' comprehension of text. (AEA)

Argues that national policy has imposed on American public education four different standards of literacy, each one more demanding than the one preceding it--signature, recitation, comprehension, and application. Suggests, also, that each standard, which had its root cause in the nation's economy and social structure, was initially applied only to…

Recommends that English classes require more reading, especially more reading of works in modern English reflecting cultural diversity, to promote high school students' cultural literacy. (MM)

Compares twelfth-grade students' performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with their performance on the Metropolitan Achievement Test 1: Reading Survey or the Degrees of Reading Power Test, concluding that the findings challenge the notion that low SAT scores indicate a lack of basic reading skills. (HOD)

Evidence for transfer of prior knowledge across first and second language inputs was shown when 211 kindergarten through sixth grade students, both monolingual English and Spanish/English speakers, were presented Aesop's fables and were tested for retelling the fables, responding to questions about fable character's motives, and extracting lessons…

A correlation exists between verbal ability test scores and name identity minus physical identity reaction times in a letter matching task. The present results support Carroll's (1981) suggestion that the reaction time difference is related more to speed than power component of standardized tests and is not optimum for prediction. (Author/RD)

Discusses the "fill-in" test, explains how to construct it, and gives statistical evidence for its effectiveness in testing English as a foreign language reading comprehension. In addition, a comparison is made between this test and the more conventional multiple-choice and cloze tests, citing the advantages and disadvantages of each.…