The following assumptions motivated this monograph's analysis of commercial based reading programs: (1) basals represent the state of the art in reading instruction; (2) to offer suggestions for improvement of instruction, existing practices must be understood in detail; and (3) information about instruction contained in the literature at large or…

As part of a longitudinal study of the acquisition of reading skills, a study tested kindergarten children at the beginning and end of their kindergarten year. The children were also observed for nine full days in their classrooms. Subjects were approximately 650 children in two cohorts. Data were collected in three school districts in Illinois,…

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) conducted several surveys between 1964 and 1985. Sweden has taken part in nine of the surveys. This paper reports the survey results briefly. Major sections included are: (1) Swedish results for all IEA studies; (2) science tests in 1970 and 1983; (3) mathematics…

This guide, developed by educators and revised by Louisiana teachers and curriculum specialists, provides Louisiana educators with information regarding assessment strategies used on the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) Grade 11 Test as well as suggested instructional approaches for enhancing student proficiency in the skill areas…

A study examined time spent on comprehension instruction by award winning, masters degree, and non-masters degree teachers. Observations of reading lessons were made under two conditions; not-cued and cued to teach "ideal" comprehension instruction lessons. Subjects were 36 public school third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade teachers…

The reading comprehension (RC) and sentence completion (SC) items from four forms of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) verbal sections were examined for differential item functioning (DIF) between male and female examinees. Forms 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the SAT-verbal were administered in January 1983, January 1984, October 1984, and June 1986,…

To illustrate the interdependent relationship between critical thinking and reading comprehension, and to show that critical thinking can be infused into classroom instruction using ordinary classroom materials (e.g. selections from a basal reading series), a study analyzed the transcript of a critical-thinking reading lesson for sixth grade…

The central theme in this journal issue is the use of the computer in teaching reading. The following articles are included: "The Use of Computers in the Reading Program: A District Approach" by Nora Forester; "Reading and Computers: A Partnership" by Dr. Martha Irwin; "Rom, Ram and Reason" by Candice Carlile; "Word Processing: Practical Ideas and…

The findings of a three-week visit in China by a study team of American scholars to examine the state of reading research and instruction in Chinese schools and universities are presented in the various articles of this report. Following an introduction describing the particulars of the visit, the report presents these articles: (1) "Chinese…

Four papers on contrastive linguistics include: (1) "The Search for an Ideal Theoretical Model in Applied Contrastive Linguistics: A Wild Goose Chase" (Herman Wekker, Flor Aarts), which argues that contrastive linguists should feel free to adopt an eclectic approach to theory since no single linguistic model can be adopted in its entirety and…

Conference presentations of research on reading comprehension, reading instruction, computer applications in reading instruction, and reading theory are compiled in this yearbook. Titles and authors of some of the articles are as follows: "A Rationale for Teaching Children with Limited English Proficiency" (M. Zintz); "Preliminary Development of a…

A study was conducted to construct measures of reading competencies that are frequently needed in an occupational environment and to describe the influence of the components of reading practice on these competencies based on the conceptual framework of ethnographic psychology. The reading practices of 25 electrical engineers and 30 electronic…

To demonstrate that a proven story mapping technique for teaching learning disabled, poor comprehenders could be used to improve the comprehension of groups of normal children as well as learning disabled and low-achieving children, heterogeneous groups of third and fourth graders, including five learning disabled and low achieving students, were…

A review of the literature on the development of children's abilities to comprehend and produce metaphorical language shows this development to be a continuous process rather than one characterized by stages, and to be constrained primarily by limitations in children's knowledge and information processing abilities. More specifically, the…

Readability formulas have varied uses. In education they are used to match children's reading ability to the difficulty level of material, select stories and books for classroom use and for individual students' particular needs, select textbooks and other reading materials, aid educational research, and check reading materials of newly literate…