Directed reading activities found in commercially produced instructional materials usually contain information that is aimed at helping children understand the story as well as helping them to develop other skills. To test the effectiveness of both establishing background knowledge and directing children toward central story content, two…

The development and evaluation of Informed Strategies for Learning (ISL), an experimental curriculum to enhance children's reading comprehension, are described in this report. The report opens with a summary of the project, in which 20 modules--each focusing on a different strategy--were designed and 60 lesson plans were developed. This section…

Having implemented a testing procedure using the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests to identify recruits with reading deficiencies, the United States Navy conducted a study comparing the performance of recruits on three different reading tests. A total of 716 recruits completed the comprehension portion of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, the Tests…

The articles included in this publication, while dealing with several aspects of reading, all share a common concern for the better understanding and improved teaching of reading. Articles include the following titles: "Reading in the Secondary School--Taught or Caught?""Developing Reading Skills in the Post-infant Years,""A Remedial Programme…

One of six related documents, this publication contains a U.S. Air Force course on communication skills. The course presented is one of three in a program based on the following educational goals for each student: (1) comprehend the principles of effective communication; (2) know some of the factors that enter into international relations,…

This study investigates the effects of meaningful-learning postquestions on recall of relevant and incidental information by two groups of fifth graders, good and poor comprehenders. The two groups had 48 fifth graders each, selected from 228 students who took the New Developmental Reading Test and the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test. Subjects…

The major purpose of this research was to show how specific theoretical principles and criteria could be integrated and supported by empirical data to provide a rationale for more systematic introduction of vocabulary in middle-grade reading-instruction material. Research was limited to the teaching of prefixes and the use of prefixed words. A…

The propositions and inferences in a narrative story can be classified into two sets: the structurally explicit are those concerned with the central theme or structure of the story, and the incidentally explicit deal with information peripheral to this theme. This study compared readers and listeners from grades three and five in their…

Ideas and suggestions relating to the teaching of reading comprehension are presented in this publication. The first chapter discusses the comprehension process and current issues and trends in comprehension research. The second chapter presents data from a statewide assessment program in Florida, in order to indicate strengths and weaknesses in…

Middle-school students, called "transescent learners," are at an age during which they undergo physical and intellectual changes that affect them emotionally and socially, causing confused thinking and insecure feelings. This paper offers seven guidelines to help the middle-school teacher select and present reading materials that enhance learning…

To improve the accuracy of the informal reading inventory (IRI), a differential set of criteria is necessary for both word recognition and comprehension scores for different levels and reading conditions. In initial evaluation, word recognition scores should reflect only errors of insertions, omissions, mispronunciations, substitiutions, unkown…

To observe the relationship of auditory and visual receptive skills to achievement in reading, 80 eight-year-old children were given a diagnostic test battery which examined three receptive skills--attention to stimuli, discrimination, and memory--within three sensory modalities--auditory, visual, and auditory-visual. The control group consisted…

To help students develop techniques which lead to maximum reading efficiency, it is first necessary to help them develop a positive self-image. Growing evidence is focusing attention on self-image as the crucial determiner of progress. Poor progess in reading at the elementary level leads to poor self-image, which in turn hinders the student in…

This reading inventory was constructed from vocabulary lists and stories in Lippincott's Basic Reading Series (1971 edition). Designed to yield an estimate of a child's instructional reading level for grades one through eight, this program comprises reading selections and tests which are individually administered and to which students respond…

The papers in this volume were initially presented at a seminar on the development of reading comprehension, which explored basic research and the teaching of reading comprehenison. Researchers in cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics and experts in curriculum design in reading gave presentations and reacted to one another's ideas. Each…