Notes that the terms "interest" and "preference" are often used interchangeably in reading research. Points out that both the sources and uses of data are clearer when the differences in the two terms are emphasized. (FL)

Presents a practical strategy for teaching reading comprehension that is based on current research and consists of five steps: (1) introduction, (2) example, (3) direct instruction, (4) teacher-directed and (5) independent practice. Provides sample lessons for each step. (FL)

Summarizes P. A. Killgallon's 1942 study that helped to establish the criteria for the instructional reading level, examines W. R. Powell's 1970 critique of that study, and presents concerns about Powell's study. (FL)

Reports the results of a study showing that natural reading experiences allow readers to construct schemata that can be used to comprehend other discourse. (AEA)

Reports on a survey of 40 school districts in Texas showing that they needed approximately 3,500 teachers of developmental reading, 130 administrators of reading programs, and 290 clinical personnel in reading. (FL)

Analysis of third-grade books in the New Macmillan Reading Program reveals that the books exceeded the publisher's designation of readability and did not progress in difficulty from easy to more difficult. Findings suggest the need for more complete and reliable information from publishers concerning textbook readability. (FL)

Reviews research concerned with factors contributing to the reading success and failure of children. (FL)

Reports on a study that reveals that reading may not play as important a role in content area teaching as many believe. (AEA)

Concludes that the dramatic play context requires children to convey meaning through explicit oral language in order to introduce and sustain play episodes. (FL)

Critically reviews an earlier published study that assessed the sensitivity of the cloze procedure to intersentential integration. (AEA)

It was proposed that the young child's awareness of the phonology of language would influence early reading success. Results revealed a strong relationship between the first grader's reading performance and two measures of his/her phonological awareness, invented spelling and phoneme segmentation abilities. (Author/RD)

Two experiments suggest that a sharp increase in reading automaticity occurs during the first grade, but that by the end of the year the development of automaticity begins to level off. (HOD)

Examines differences in the response patterns of primary school children in oral reading and an auditory cloze task. Concludes that the proportions of wrong responses and morphemically acceptable responses were greater for the cloze task, especially for passages on or above an individual's reading level. (FL)

Reports on a study that investigated the position of text line break with respect to the phrase structure of a sentence in order to determine its effect on children's reading fluency. Concludes that line breaks within and between phrases cause less disruption when they occur near the end of a sentence. (FL)

Notes that after 20 years of research on advance organizers there is little unequivocal evidence regarding their efficacy and optimal use. Discusses two aspects of this research that are probably responsible for these findings: lack of scientifically objective advance organizer construction and definition and the lack of objective and valid…