This volume contains 20 case study profiles of educational RDD&E projects and, as such, constitutes the data base for the Oregon Studies. This part (Part 1) of Volume IV contains profiles of five research and three evaluation projects along with information that describes the development of the profiles, explains how to read the profiles, and…

THE ROLES OF A READING CONSULTANT IN TWO SITUATIONS--AS A CATALYST IN A GROUP AND AS A "HELPFUL FRIEND" IN A ONE-TO-ONE SITUATION--WERE COMPARED IN A 1964 STUDY. THIRTY-FIVE FIRST-GRADE CLASSROOMS AND 35 TEACHERS IN 10 SCHOOLS IN WALLINGTON, CONNECTICUT, WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS. IN THE FIVE CONTROL SCHOOLS (METHOD 1), CONSULTANT…

Using data collected by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), the authors of this study examined the reading achievement of 14-year-old boys in India and England. They sought to determine the factors involved in the academic achievement of these boys in the natural sciences. Factors studied, in addition…

This paper reports a technique for classroom observation of children's activities considered relevant to the acquisition of reading. It is part of a larger study conducted by the University of Bristol called the "Children Learning to Read" Project, an attempt to study the learning experiences of individual children as they occur in a…

Reports on a study of word recognition in second grade, fourth grade, sixth grade, and college students, which investigated characteristics of word processing (holistic versus component) at various stages of reading development. (AM)

Explores the efficacy of a behavioral remediation program for oral reading on oral reading errors and comprehension of four moderately mentally retarded children. Reveals a clear relationship between remediation and oral reading errors and proves that the remediation program was effective in reducing oral reading errors and increasing…

Argues that federal policy decisions have shaped a particular configuration of services for low achieving readers at the school level because prevailing definitions conceptualize reading failure as a disability rather than as a disadvantage. Notes that reading researchers must be aware of this if low achieving children are to benefit from advances…

Shows that problems in areas like economics, language, culture, teacher training, and social circumstances all affect how secondary school teachers handle reading in content area courses in Black South Africa. (SKC)

Describes a college level reading development course in which students kept records on aspects of their reading, reflected on changes in their reading, and wrote an analytical report about their reading development. Asserts that encouraging autocritical skills should become a crucial part of adult literacy instruction. (MM)

Examines the nature of children's sense of theme in narratives as it develops over three age levels--kindergarten, second grade, and fourth grade--and investigates the role of literature in that development. Concludes that thematic identification is an early developmental strategy. (MM)

Indicates that a broad age range of students can use some purpose questions as cues to activate background knowledge. Suggest topic familiarity, amount of information presented, and the presence of genre clues as text features affecting schema activation. (NKA)

Presents a study of students in Australia, Canada, and England and examines grade nine students' written responses to writing over a two year period and their opinions of the books they read. Suggests that for students of that age, creative written responses to writing are the most imaginative. (JC)

Suggests that viewing aesthetic reading as a process whereby readers and writers attempt to "make contact" and collaborate in making meaning forces one to adopt research strategies that go beyond measuring reading comprehension, and offers two studies to illustrate these ideas. (JC)

Reports on a study using 126 university freshmen to examine the effects of instruction and practice in a discourse structure reading and writing strategy focusing on main ideas, supporting ideas, and central ideas. Indicates the discourse structure treatment is effective and worthy of further study. (NH)

Criticizes the "project" approach to reading instruction, where beginning reading students are supposed to learn the skills it takes to find out information for themselves by reading from sources. Points out that a large number of ill-defined skills which are not taught explicitly are required to sucessfully complete a project. (SKC)