The implications that cognitive approaches to the study of reading can have for the assessment of reading achievement are discussed. Research in word decoding, semantic access, sentence processing, and discourse analysis is summarized with emphasis on processing efficiency required in one area affecting performance in another area. (Author/CM)

Indicates that students were much more likely to comprehend text when they had a culturally appropriate schema into which to incorporate new information. (AEA)

Compares the reading interests of middle school Black and White students from the same socioeconomic background. Concludes that there is a high correlation between being Black and choosing certain books and being White and choosing other books. (FL)

Training to self-monitor reading comprehension was undertaken with 120 learning disabled eighth and ninth graders and normally achieving sixth graders. It was hypothesized that insufficient metacomprehension is one possible cause underlying learning disabled adolescents' comprehension problems. (Author/SEW)

Investigated two methods of segmenting text based upon phrase boundaries in an attempt to make social studies textbooks more readable for elementary school students. Concludes that phrasing the passages for students improved their reading comprehension by approximately one grade level. (FL)

Finds evidence that the reading of content area materials is done less effectively than is the reading of basal readers or trade books, particularly at the lower grade levels. (FL)

Compares results of standardized reading tests with informal reading inventories to determine whether teachers should favor one score over the other as an indicator of instructional reading level. (FL)

Reports on research that reviewed 142 current middle and secondary school content materials to discover the organizational patterns used in each. Concludes that four such patterns are commonly used: enumeration, relationship, persuasive, and problem solving. Discusses each pattern and how it affects comprehension. (FL)

Examines the story recall of normal and dyslexic readers in relation to story grammar categories and suggests that dyslexic students do not have significant deficiencies in use of such categories. Discusses the results in light of the need for considering multiple processing levels and as indicating that story grammars may be of limited diagnostic…

Through stories, children become aware of their culture and make sense of their world. Past stories came from books; now they come from television. To develop a theory of children's literature, knowledge about children, about their books, and about reading must be placed in a new theoretical pattern. (PP)

Reviews research published from 1960 to 1981 concerning prereading strategies. Concludes that there is a dearth of conclusive research in the area and calls for renewed efforts on the part of researchers. (FL)

Provides several types of prereading activities that combine into one strategy stressing vocabulary, oral language development, and prediction. (FL)