The third in a series of studies to assess the reading achievement of Indiana students, a study compared the reading achievement of sixth and tenth graders in 1944-45, 1976, and 1986. The same edition of the Iowa Silent Reading Test (ISRT) was administered to sixth- and tenth-graders in 1944-45, 1976, and 1986. The 1944-45 sample consisted of 25%…

A study analyzed and compared the content of four reading journals to determine the extent to which articles concretely described strategies for teaching comprehension or for following up on comprehension instruction. A total of 654 articles from 1973 and 1983 were content analyzed for eight categories of comprehension instruction and three…

In this paper addressed to graduate students in reading, the nature and problems associated with graduate student research are described. It is noted that the purpose of research is seen in different ways by those engaged in it. However, regardless of how a profession defines research, it must contain and reflect scholarship; any other research is…

A study evaluated a program designed to improve the reading attitude of students who had the skills to read independently but chose not to during their recreational reading time. Subjects, 25 third grade students enrolled in a public school in a rapidly growing city in Florida, performed in the 80th percentile or above on county, state, and…

A longitudinal study followed cohorts of students progressing through schools in the Cleveland Public School district and compared the reading comprehension scores of black and white students. Subjects, 12 cohorts ranging in size from 1400 to 2900 students, had reading comprehension test scores available for the first and last years of the study.…

To examine the relationship between spelling and reading using full graphemic cues, a study administered tests of oral reading, verbal IQ, reading comprehension, knowledge of letter-sound correspondences, and spelling achievement to 47 fifth-grade students. In addition, data was collected relative to gender and time spent reading outside the…

Despite a significant increase in test usage, numerous issues surrounding reading assessment remain unresolved. Construct validity--whether the test actually measures aspects of the behavior under consideration--is of particular importance if one is to rely on test scores to direct instruction, predict performance, or determine accountability. A…

To determine whether mastery of one reading comprehension task is a prerequisite to mastery of two or more reading comprehension tasks, a study examined the prerequisite relations existing in the item responses elicited from a sample of sixth grade students who took the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Form G, Level 12 reading comprehension test. Test…

A study investigated both quantitative and qualitative differences between learning disabled (LD) and nonlearning disabled (NLD) subjects across three grade levels on two tasks requiring active processing of story grammar. Twelve LD and 12 NLD subjects were randomly selected from grades 4-5, 7-8, and 10-11 in a southwestern Florida school…

This paper argues that metaphor comprehension is an interactive process that involves reliance not only on the metaphorical linguistic input but also on the linguistic and situational context in which it occurs. A pilot study indicated that even preschool children appear capable of using the information provided by the linguistic and situational…

A study examined the effect of verbal reporting of students' thinking on their performance during an examination. Subjects, 343 high school seniors, were randomly divided into 4 experimental groups, and a different procedure for eliciting students' thinking during a critical thinking test was used for each group. A control group took the same test…

This report describes a methodology for using verbal reports of thinking to develop and validate multiple-choice tests of critical thinking. These verbal reports of individuals' thinking on draft items of multiple-choice critical thinking tests can be used systematically to provide evidence of the thinking processes elicited by such tests, and in…

A study investigated the efficacy of using the neurological impress method in peer tutoring during reading instruction. The neurological impress reading method is a unison reading procedure in which the student and teacher or tutor read aloud simultaneously and quickly, with the student placed slightly in front of the teacher so that the teacher's…

Focused on the topic of ability grouping in reading instruction, particularly at the elementary level, this annotated bibliography contains 31 references to articles and papers entered in the ERIC database between 1983 and 1989. The citations include articles discussing recent research on ability grouping, and possible alternatives to ability…

This annotated bibliography contains 34 references on issues concerning adult literacy listed in the ERIC database. It contains citations from the period between 1987 and 1989 and is divided into four sections. The first section provides an overview of adult literacy. Articles and papers in the second section describe and discuss adult literacy…