Noting that most classroom teachers use informal reading inventories (IRI) as diagnostic instruments, a study examined what oral reading accuracy level is most appropriate for the instructional level and whether repetitions should be counted as oral reading errors. Randomly selected students from the second through fifth grades at two elementary…

Noting that the attention of the speech communication discipline to listening skills does not mirror the apparent importance of such skills, this paper examines five listening assessment tests--focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, procedural problems, and conceptualizations of each--that potential users should be aware of before selecting any…

Noting that children and adults often hold misconceptions about topics in content area texts, particularly those in the area of science where counter-intuitive notions about how the real world works abound, a study examined the effect of activating students' background knowledge about motion theory prior to asking them to read a physics text.…

Concerned with improving student comprehension of text, this book focuses particularly on teaching students how sentences tie together. Articles in the three sections are grouped as follows: Part 1, What Is Cohesion Comprehension? contains "Cohesion, Coherence, and Comprehension" (Alden J. Moe and Judith W. Irwin); "Identifying…

When people say that what they hear is "over their heads," they are describing a severe information-based complexity (I-BC) problem. They cannot understand what is said because some of the information needed is missing, contaminated, and/or costly to obtain. Students often face these I-BC problems, and teachers often exacerbate them. Yet…

A study investigated the readability of current laws for Canadian francophones and anglophones. The 63 subjects were asked to read a variety of brief legal texts available in parallel styles in both languages and to answer questions about the texts' content. Subjects were also surveyed about their preference for a formal or vulgarized style of…

The usefulness of before-adjunct questions with standardized multiple-choice tests in increasing reading comprehension scores was studied by examining the relative effectiveness of reading test questions first or reading the passage first. Subjects were 210 fourth graders randomly assigned to two treatment groups. The Level 9 Reading Comprehension…

A study investigated whether a positive correlation existed between scores obtained by incoming freshman on the recently developed Degrees of Reading Power Test (DRP) and the required Reading Comprehension subtest of the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT). The subjects, 217 William Paterson College freshman enrolled in a…

To learn when children would be able to evaluate and revise texts that presented significant comprehension problems, and to investigate the relationship between general reading skill and comprehension monitoring and revision skills, a study administered revision tests to 65 fourth grade and 38 sixth grade students from a rural New England school…

Four papers on reading in a second language are reviewed and discussed. They include a study of assessment and the difficulties inherent in the measurement of a construct as complex as reading comprehension. The other three deal with variables facilitating comprehension in reading. One supports an interactive model of reading rather than a…

To provide more information on whether computer assisted instruction (CAI) is an effective means of reading remediation, a study examined two ninth grade classes (15 students per class) to determine what differences, if any, existed after remediation of the experimental sample's deficiencies with CAI. The classes were primarily Black, with four…

In spite of their limitations, readability formulas can help teachers determine whether there are differences between students' reading abilities and the difficulty levels of the textbooks they are required to use. A study was conducted to assess the reading levels of students and the readability levels of textbooks at five selected junior…

This document addresses new insights into the complex cognitive processes involved in reading and their effects on programs and teachers in social studies. Indices are examined that consider: (1) students' reading performance; (2) teacher behavior; (3) textbook readability; and (4) structure for explanation of textual material. Research indicates…

This guide is intended for use in developing informational materials intended to be read by adults with limited reading skills. Most of the examples used throughout the guidelines relate to food and nutrition; however, the concepts they illustrate are applicable to any topic. The following topics are covering: knowing a written message's intended…

Writing does more than demonstrate the interpretive process active in the mind of a student, it influences and directs the interpretive process in writing. Writing to read allows the expressive dimension to find an overt, secure place in the interpretive framework of a student's learning. By examining a student's theoretical explanation of her…