This study examined irregularities in reading comprehension (RC) test results at both the individual and aggregate levels, focusing on the effect of test speededness on test scores. Data were taken from results of the Stanford Achievement Test--Seventh Edition (SAT/7), administered during April of 1983 to about 50,000 Palm Beach County (Florida)…

A practicum was developed which used improvisation and mapping strategies in the teaching of Shakespearean drama to increase comprehension and to develop a more positive attitude toward Shakespeare and drama in general. Subjects were a target group of 15 students enrolled in a ninth grade English class at a preparatory institution. Subjects, who…

Two experiments investigated whether elementary school children's difficulties in detecting inconsistencies in text are related to their failure (1) to represent each of two inconsistent propositions in memory or (2) to compare the representations of the inconsistent propositions to each other once each has been represented in memory. Overall,…

Many gifted children enter kindergarten already reading and in need of reading instruction that is different from the regular program. A reading program for gifted youngsters that is literature-based will help develop comprehension skills at the highest cognitive levels and will also foster the desire to read. Beginning with the interpretation of…

Intended for practitioners involved in working with groups in basic education, this book provides some ideas on suitable approaches. An introduction addresses where group work takes place and why a group approach is used. A discussion of starting points covers first meetings, planning and preparing, and teaching aids. A description of a group…

All language use, including written school language, is rhetorical and communicative, and both composing and reading textbooks are rhetorical situations that include interactions and transactions. One issue concerning text characteristics is whether the diverse parts that authors play influence how students learn from their books and respond to…

A study was conducted to determine if knowledge of the purposes of written language facilitated reading achievement in preschool children. The study also compared the performance of boys and girls to determine if boys' generally poorer reading abilities could be related to differences in print awareness. Scores from the comprehension subtest of…

The guide is intended to help teachers of mildly handicapped (learning disabled, behavior disordered, and mildly retarded) students develop and modify language arts activities keyed to specific learning needs. A preliminary chapter discusses principles of teaching for mastery and generalization including sequential modification, identifying and…

A study examined the pronoun miscues of 32 sixth grade and 24 second grade students reading short prose selections aloud. The miscue analysis led to the identification of text features readers use to assign pronoun reference, the strategies developing readers often employ, and the patterns of correction of pronoun miscues. Specifically, it…

Effective teaching strategies must be developed to help students bridge the gap between concrete operational thinking and full formal thinking in the content areas. Reading for meaning requires readers to categorize subjects, recognize relationships, develop and maintain a sequence of thought, recognize and understand inferences, and draw…

Employed extensively in some Soviet bloc countries to teach a variety of subjects, the Suggestive-Accelerative Learning and Teaching (SALT) method uses a combination of physical and mental relaxation exercises, music, and suggestive principles to increase learning. However, in spite of research showing its effectiveness in teaching reading skills…

An example of reader, writer, and text transaction and interaction may be seen in a study that examined story grammar and applied propositional analysis, cohesive analysis, and miscue analysis to one reader and one text to determine comprehension. A third grade boy read and then retold the story "The Accident." The miscues were marked,…

Noting that a major issue in education today is the concern about students' ability to read critically and to solve problems, this paper describes an analysis of five texts focusing on reading and learning in the content areas to determine what they had to say about critical reading and strategies for teaching critical reading--specifically,…

Sixty children, 20 from each of grades 1, 3, and 5 served as subjects in a study that examined how elementary school age children realize the intent of directives embedded within written and picture book narratives. Directives were defined as the range of language forms used to direct actions (imperative statement, need/want statement, permission…

The reading achievement test scores of 239 low-income, southern, urban black students in grades three through eight were compared with their ability to comprehend the social studies books used in their classrooms. Achievement scores were obtained from the reading subtests of the Stanford Achievement Tests. A cloze passage was developed based on…