Describes the results of one part of a two-year-long classroom study of sixth graders' engagement with and responses to nonfiction trade books. Considers what motivated these sixth graders to read the nonfiction titles they chose for small-group and voluntary reading. Concludes that when students are given the opportunity to select nonfiction…

Investigates sensitivity to rhyme and phoneme among readers and nonreaders with Down Syndrome (DS) and normally developing children. Evaluates a rhyme detection task and initial and middle phoneme detection tasks. Concludes the rhyme detection task was the easiest for nonreaders without DS and most difficult for readers with DS. (PM)

Reports on three studies comparing the reading and phonological skills of children with Down Syndrome (DS) and younger normally developing children of similar reading level. Notes that for children with DS, letter-sound knowledge did not predict reading. Suggests that children with DS do not possess full phoneme awareness. (PM)

Reviews an eclectic collection of research evidence on cohesion and redundancy. Notes that much research is in progress in these areas and that there are presently some conflicts in the findings. Concludes that the author's own tentative findings suggest strongly that cohesion and redundancy are important to the linkage between reader and writer…

Investigates whether using an advance organizer along with metacognitive strategies helps high school students learn content material. Finds that using metacognitive strategies leads to significantly higher reading scores than the use of advance organizers alone or merely reading an introductory passage. Finds that the benefits increase as the…

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess reading attitudes of normal adult readers (N=84) and to examine relationships among attitude and other reading-related factors. Positive reading attitude was associated with high reading comprehension test scores, higher education attainment, and high self-rating of reading ability.…

Notes that neither teacher experience nor graduate level reading courses have much effect on instructional practices. Argues that answering the questions of how additional knowledge can get translated into classroom practice and how to identify the most effective teachers of reading comprehension are more important than identifying still more…

Focuses on the examination of pupil responses for grades two through four in a study that provides more recent information about the performance of pupils on the Dolch Test. Provides some observations to assist teachers in interpreting the result of pupil responses to these words. (MG)

Presents a readability formula suitable for passages from 40 to 99 words (provided they contain at least 3 sentences). (RS)

Administers a battery of auditory perceptual processing tasks to 103 reading disabled children and 103 average readers. Finds that auditory discrimination did not discriminate between the groups. States that 2 levels of phonological awareness exist and that screening and diagnostic instruments should address both to have predictive validity. (MG)

Kindergarteners' three pretend readings of two picture storybooks are analyzed in terms of approximate, ambiguous, and five types of extrapolated tokens. Seven tables show the results of analyses. It is suggested that children use various constructive strategies to acquire a familiarity with the registers of typical written story language.…

Examines whether the conscious use of phonological knowledge is associated with invented spelling and whether a relation exists between invented spelling and reading. Finds a relation between spelling ability and conscious use of phonological knowledge; however, word reading appears to be a related (but separate) ability from word writing. (RS)

Summarizes key findings from five studies investigating how features of test questions (question format, testing condition, and question type) affect reading comprehension assessment outcomes. Discusses implications for assessment design and instructional practice. (MM)

Explores the nature of illiteracy for adults who have made no or minimal progress in learning to read or write. Finds further support for using the whole language approach and the language experience approach for adult beginning readers. (RS)

Reviews the recent research which (1) explores the ability of college students to monitor their comprehension; and (2) determines the factors which influence comprehension monitoring. (MG)