The objective of the Gulfport Summer School project was to improve the teaching techniques in the English program so that unmotivated and underachieving students could experience some success. Students were grouped in English classes according to their spelling and language scores on the Stanford Achievement Test, Form X, in classes of from 10 to…

The present research was conducted to determine the relative importance of a variety of background variables and school effects on curriculum assignment in public high schools. The emphasis was on the sociological processes of selection and differentiation within schools, and the role of education in facilitating or blocking social mobility. A…

In order to improve self-concepts, inculcate pride of heritage, and improve use of English by building larger speaking and reading vocabularies in Sioux Indian children, 2 sets of simple books were developed. The 1st set of books, the "Read Aloud Stories," contains 10 illustrated books intended to be read to preschool and early…

A study to determine the impact of adult basic education programs on the upward mobility of disadvantaged workers is presented. The paper industry was chosen for case analysis because of the nature of the upgrading problems, the vast adjustments required by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the fact that these ABE programs have been operational…

This report analyzes a test in Hebrew phonetic reading administered to students of the junior high school at Congregation Beth Yeshurun in April and May 1975. There was a progressive improvement in reading rate in each grade: Junior High 1 students averaged 38.7 words per minute; Junior High 2 students averaged 47.3 words per minute; and Junior…

This study demonstrated that, although standard instructional design revisions of a traditional textbook chapter had no effect on teacher attitudes toward adoption of the material, the revised version of the chapter significantly improved student performance. Teacher and student participants in the study were from the St. Petersburg…

Reading well is at the heart of all learning. Without the ability to read, children can not succeed in school. Research has shown that most of the reading problems faced by adolescents and adults today could have been prevented if they'd gotten the proper help during early childhood. This brochure provides information about how parents can help…

"Illiterates" are those who have not learned to write in any language. This is the definition on which American and most foreign statistics of illiteracy are based, because the percentage of those who can read but can not write is so small that it may be ignored. The test of writing one's name and ordinary words is simple, easily…

This article discusses a program entitled "Extended Reading Comprehension Skills through Language Transfer," whose goals were to expand and increase English skills through the study of the Latin language and Rome's culture. This program was implemented in Los Angeles based on the Philadelphia program pioneered by Masciantonio. (Author/CFM)

Focuses on the importance of vocabulary knowledge as fundamental to proficiency in a second language (L2). The article notes that each of the studies in this issue examines L2 vocabulary learning from a particular angle, including lexical progress, learning strategies, context effect, the role of learner factors such as age and first language…

This paper describes the home and school experiences of 12 children from bilingual (mostly Chinese/English) homes who, before beginning first grade, demonstrated advanced ability to comprehend written English. Results demonstrate that lack of fluency in oral English should not exclude children from advanced instruction in reading. (Author/JDD)

Studied reading comprehension, vocabulary, general knowledge, and print exposure of 11th graders who completed reading battery 10 years earlier. Found that first-grade reading ability predicted all 11th-grade outcomes--even when cognitive ability was partialed out--and was linked to print exposure, even after 11th-grade reading comprehension…

Elementary teachers Fay and Whaley share anecdotes of how carefully listening to English language learners read--and discussing with them their errors and confusions--helps teachers better analyze such students' true language and reading abilities. They discuss the importance of spending time talking individually with each child learning to read…

This article looks closely at a subset of books about literacy in and out of school by analyzing images of children learning and struggling to learn to read in realistic fiction. There are several books in which characters wish to learn to read, worry about being poor readers, and work hard to learn to read. These books raise important questions…

The present study focuses on the task characteristics of reading passages and key sentences in a test of second language reading. Using a new methodological approach to describe variation in test task characteristics and explore how differences in these characteristics might relate to examinee performance, it posed the two following research…