Explores the impact of an author supplied analogy on students' comprehension of a high school biology text passage. Finds that, on a short essay measure, there was no significant difference in comprehension between those students who read a passage including the analogy and those whose passage did not include the analogy. (RS)

Investigates the interactive development of short-term memory, phonological processing and reading. Reports that phonological skills promote the acquisition of letter knowledge and that these two abilities, together with visual short term memory, lead the development of reading. (MG)

Discusses the use of previous reading research; important historical figures in reading; important research today; and issues that need to be addressed in the future. (RS/JAD)

Contrasts sequential and relational processing manipulations of passages with manipulations which focus on individual lexical items and the propositions in which they are embedded. Finds recall to be superior when readers use sequential and relational processing during performance of individual item-specific lexical processing. (RS)

Examines the ability of children to evaluate their comprehension of text using lexical, external, and internal consistency standards. Finds that children more often use lexical and external consistency than internal consistency and that the results of verbal report measures are inconsistent with performance measures. (RS)

Presents an interview with Dr. Roach van Allen in which he describes how he became involved in education, who influenced him professionally, his proudest accomplishments (a theoretical model for a language experience program), what he sees as the current problems in reading education, and what he sees in the future. (RS)

Supports the results of a previous study that concluded that the Farr-Jenkins-Paterson formula resulted in a more difficult readability level than the Flesch Reading Ease formula, the Dale-Chall Readability formula, and the Fry Readability Graph, and that the Fry Readability Graph is accurate within one grade level. (MS)

Argues that strategic reading suggests purpose and intentionality on the part of the reader, which is different from a seemingly reflexive response where skills are concerned or where intuition reveals an answer. Argues that teachers can increase strategic thinking by providing demonstrations of strategies and offering incentives to readers. (RS)

Examines the effect of self-instruction on error detection in short essays. Finds that above average readers in the self-instruction group performed significantly better than those in a control group, and that average readers displayed a similar but not statistically significant trend. (RS)

Discusses learning disabilities in light of Gerald Cole's book "The Learning Mystique: A Critical Look at Learning Disabilities" and in the humorous guise of being diagnosed by a learning disabilities expert as having a neurological dysfunction due to a lack of interest in watching football. (RS)

Describes and examines the taxonomic linguistic system, a multi-level classification of language. Notes that this system not only formed the basis for all reading instruction, but also influenced reading research. Argues that this system should be replaced by one less simplistic and more realistic. (MM)

Reports on a study in which elementary level students evaluated rewards commonly used to encourage recreational reading. Finds that the most popular rewards allow students more flexibility and independence. (MM)

Investigates whether reading ability improves when students read relatively easy library books. Compares reading achievement of students in grades three, four, and five who read books at either above or below their reading level. Finds no evidence that either group gained in reading ability. Notes that later empirical evidence indicated no actual…

Finds that good inventive spellers learned to read two sets of phonetically simplified words more effectively than poor inventive spellers. Confirms a strong relationship between spelling and reading even when spellers are found in classrooms where spelling is not taught. (RS)

Reports investigations of some of the factors that affect novice readers' decoding of nonwords. Finds that children aged 7, 8, and 10 assigned more correct pronunciations to nonwords with many orthographic neighbors than those which had few. Discusses results in light of current models. Suggests that a connectionist model with word-level…