Despite widely-held beliefs to the contrary, three different sources of research data prove that children in the 1990s read better on the average than either their father's generation or their grandfather's generation. "Then and Now" studies indicate that students read better now than decades ago. Restandardization of test norms also…

This monograph offers a progress report on reading in America. The monograph considers the idea that contemporary research indicates that competent readers are constructive and discusses reading habits of adults and children, data on 17-year-olds from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, reading instruction, reader response theory, and…

A case study involved the adaptation of Reading Recovery technique in an attempt to improve the alphabet knowledge of a kindergarten student. Over a 2-week period, recovery techniques were employed in one-on-one sessions, the goal of which was to increase the student's ability to recognize and produce five letters of the alphabet. Assessments…

A study examined the reading values taught in reading textbooks over 200 years, including the top seven basals in use in U.S. public schools through 1995. A rare books collection at a university library was the major source of data. Value "labels" were determined for each selection. Results indicated that: (1) the average reader of 100…

A study examined the effects of instruction versus no instruction of comprehension monitoring strategies and the effects of direct instruction of a written or checksheet comprehension monitoring strategy on the metacognitive awareness and reading achievement of students. Subjects, 57 fifth-grade and 51 third-grade students from 6 intact classrooms…

A study investigated the effects of text processing orientations and reader-generated versus text-based comprehension aids on readers' comprehension of expository text. The processing orientations included memory-oriented processing, organization-oriented processing, understanding-oriented processing, and a read and study control. Subjects, 136…

A study examined the relationship between geographic mobility and school achievement. Subjects, 15 fourth-grade students who transferred more than twice and 47 fourth-grade students who did not transfer as often from a Chicago public school in a low socioeconomic area, had their scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills compared. Results indicated…

Addressing a component of critical thinking that is presently lacking in reading instruction in United States classrooms, this paper identifies and provides a review of the literature on six traits of analytical reading. Stemming directly from research in assessment and instructional practices, these traits identify the six critical reading skills…

The effects of prior knowledge on miscues were examined by requiring 20 second-grade average to above average readers to read an expository passage orally. They were divided into two sample groups. The control group was asked to read the passage with no prior instruction. The experimental group was given prior instruction, which consisted of…

In an updated edition, this book is intended to provide a solid, but accessible, introduction to what is known about the psychology of reading. The book is not aimed at cognitive psychologists, but at those who have had an academic background equivalent to the introductory course in psychology. The guiding purpose of the book is to address what…

This literature review examines studies in the field of metacognition and reading comprehension on the elementary level. It discusses sources in the areas of metacognitive theory, field experimentation, and specific learning and teaching strategies which have emerged from experimentation. The 25 sources are taken from published journals and ERIC…

A study investigated African-American children, Section 1703(f) of the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1974 and the attention paid to teaching these children to read in current reading method textbooks. The main aspects of Black English were identified and recognized as significant barriers to reading achievement. The contents of 14 of the most…

A study investigated college students' reactions to a news story written in the traditional "inverted pyramid" format and the same story rearranged into a "mapped" format (where similar information is gathered under heads and subheads). Seventy students were given the story in either the "mapped" or the traditional…

This study sought to add to the evidence on predictable texts by asking two questions: (1) What type of reading do predictable texts produce? and (2) How do predictable texts influence sight vocabulary acquisition and decoding? Subjects, six black male students selected from a first-grade classroom in an urban setting, had minimal or no sight…

One of 10 reports commissioned by the National Academy of Education, this report investigates topics related to an assessment program piloted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) designed to support state-by-state and state-to-nation comparisons of student performance in reading. The report focuses on three issues: (1) the…