This discussion of assessing students' reading abilities focuses on the need for developing better tests and better interpretation of test scores. Criterion-referenced tests versus norm-referenced tests are described, highlighting the Degrees of Reading Power and Metropolitan Achievement Tests: Reading, and the need for assessing the reading…

The article provides an overview of a special topical issue on information processing as it relates to learning disabilities. Components of information processing theory are described, a model of information processing is presented, and subsequent articles in the special issue are summarized. (JW)

Multiple reading measures and writing measures were administered to 256 second graders and 251 fifth graders. A canonical correlational analysis, grade level analyses, and cohort analyses for beginning and proficient readers were performed. Reading or writing never explained more than 43 percent of the variance in the opposite test set. (Author/BS)

Describes a study whose purpose was to identify the relative contribution of the nature of instruction and the frequency of encounters in bringing about word knowledge proficiency in fourth-grade children. Results suggest that instruction based on definitional associations is sufficient to affect word knowledge. (HOD)

Early reading for deaf and hearing-impaired children using the natural reading method inspired by Doman is advocated. The Doman method is described. What educational research on deaf and hearing-impaired children says concerning the process of reading acquisition is discussed. (RM)

Analyzes the task performance of two groups of readers--those who made gains and those who did not make gains in a remedial reading situation in order to determine their use of word identification cues. Shows that the gain group was more analytical of the test words and tended to use more units of varying size. (HOD)

Laments the discrepancy between the process approach to reading and writing instruction advocated in research and the skills approach manifested in homework assignments. Decries the unsatisfactory role this kind of homework forces parents to assume. (HTH)

Exemplary teacher research has established that explicit teaching plays a vital role in the K-12 classroom, with particular benefits for struggling readers. This book is a practical resource for explaining reading to students who do not learn easily. The book identifies 22 major skills and strategies associated with vocabulary development,…

This primer provides the basic information that teachers and tutors need to get started on the complex process of reading assessment. Designed for maximum utility in today's standards-driven classroom, the primer presents simple, practical assessment strategies that are based on theory and research. It takes teachers step by step through learning…

Low literate patients face difficulties when they read health care information. The complex process of reading can be summarized in five steps: input, decoding, encoding, output, and feedback. Each occurs automatically for the fluent reader; the low literate reader might encounter stumbling blocks in one or more of the steps. Once the patient has…

The single most important task facing elementary school teachers today is teaching students to read by the end of third grade. Learning to read in those formative years is essential to develop the higher order thinking skills demanded in the older grades, when students are reading to learn. Beginning readers must be engaged in highly purposeful…

Aligned with its 1998 standards for first- and second-language learning, Alberta Learning has published lesson plans that aim for a closer relationship between learning and evaluation. Each volume in this series presents a specific task for students that involves planning, carrying out, and evaluating their work. The task for eleventh grade…

Based on the view that the benefits of reading aloud are not widely recognized or sufficiently promoted, this book explains why reading aloud to young children has a strong emotional and intellectual impact on their ability to read and learn. The book begins with the recollection of how the author became aware of the effects of reading aloud on…

The goal in Reading Recovery is to support children to develop "in the head" operations or strategies that aid them to solve problems as they read and write continuous text. To help children in organizing experience and correct any idiosyncratic or unreliable relationships, teachers must understand how children develop their internal…

This paper is an annotated bibliography of 16 publications from 1994 through 1997 investigating the influence of CD-ROM technology in reading instruction and language development. Entries are listed alphabetically by author. In addition to full bibliographic information, each entry summarizes the publication in a few paragraphs. (EV)