Background: Recent government papers have expressed concern about the poor educational attainment of "looked after" children. Early reading development has been found to be significant in their subsequent academic achievement. The possibility that biosocial factors extraneous to their experiences in public care may underpin their low…

Lifelong learning has become an important goal of education over the last decade. According to the United States Department of Education (2001), nearly 3 million students over age 17 (excluding those institutionalized) enrolled in adult basic education, adult secondary education, or English as a second language classes in the United States.…

The project approach to learning includes a focus on in-depth study of a topic, along with teaching style, learning style, and theme. In contrast to a thematic approach, the project approach encourages children to be actively engaged in their own studies, with teachers acting as guides and facilitators. In the project approach, students use…

A study investigated the effects of sex and grade in school on students' reading proficiency, students' beliefs about their reading, parents' beliefs about the students' reading, and teacher's beliefs about the students' reading. The study also examined causal relationships between student, parent, and teacher beliefs and students' reading…

This study sought to locate excellent readers and excellent reading courses among majors and courses chosen by college freshmen at three postsecondary institutions: a private, residential, suburban, four-year liberal arts college with religious affiliation; a two-year public (commuter) community college outside the same metropolitan area; and an…

This report describes the first year evaluation of the implementation and effects of the Project SELF HELP, a family literacy program located in two urban elementary schools and run by a community organization. The program was available to 15 adults from each site who had lower than a fifth grade reading level and whose children were experiencing…

Originally developed for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on grouping students and pacing instruction is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an overview on the topic; the full…

Children are faced with an increased potential for academic failure due to less stable family lives and career-oriented parents. Cross-cultural reading instruction practices and programs can provide insights that could prevent such failure for children at-risk. One such program is the reading maintenance program used in Denmark, wherein groups of…

This collection is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The six titles deal with the following topics: (1) a comparison of mastery and nonmastery learning approaches to teaching reading comprehension to Title I students in second through sixth grade, (2) induced mental imagery and the comprehension…

To examine how classroom conditions such as students' mean aptitude, materials used, and instructional time influence the amount of reading material covered, 12 first grade classrooms were each observed for 12 days over a 36-week period. Students' reading readiness and word recognition skills were tested prior to observation while group mean…

A study was conducted to determine the reading level of students in a college remedial reading and writing class, the gains they made during a semester of instruction, the differences in gains made by students taking the remedial class alone and those taking that class and the normal basic composition course, and the differences in gains made by…

A battery of work sample tests, the Micro-TOWER System of Vocational Evaluation, has been developed for use in vocational and career education programs. Verbal, numerical, and perceptual motor skills useful in various occupations are measured. The system has been field tested in vocational rehabilitation centers, prisons, schools, and psychiatric…

This study examined reading in a second language among 12 fourth and fifth grade Mexican American bilinguals. The children's oral reading and recall was taped. Oral reading errors were categorized and tallied. The reading performance was evaluated by a system-oriented analysis of recall and of reading errors where "error" was defined as any…

This report gives a history of the 1979-80 segment of a continuing project that is designed to provide a theoretically based description of children's transition from prereading to reading, along with tools that teachers may use to assess children's emerging literacy abilities. The first chapter provides an introduction to the project, while the…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: the relationship of text organization to readability and reading ability; how advance organizers, outlining, and other preparatory procedures affect learning and…