This report presents results of a comprehensive review of the research on the improvement of reading comprehension for students with disabilities and is organized into two major sections, the first on learning disabilities and the second on low incidence disabilities. Section 1 is organized into seven chapters which cover: (1) an explanation of…

Although numerous research studies have shown that viewing educational television results in significant gains in preschool and school-age children's academic knowledge or skills, there is less consistent evidence regarding transfer of learning, the application of knowledge or skills learned in one context to a new problem or situation. This paper…

Based on the 1998 Arkansas State Language Arts Framework, this framework lists benchmarks for kindergarten through grade four in writing; reading; and listening, speaking, and viewing. The writing section's stated standards are to help students employ a wide range of strategies as they write; use different writing process elements appropriately to…

This report describes a program for increasing students' language arts skills by incorporating modeling and grade appropriate comprehension activities. The targeted population consisted of Kindergarten, 4th, and 6th grade students in a rural middle class community located in central Illinois. The problems with language arts skills were documented…

Web-based statistical instruction, like all statistical instruction, ought to focus on teaching the essence of the research endeavor: the exercise of reflective judgment. Using the framework of the recent report of the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on Statistical Inference (Wilkinson and the APA Task Force on Statistical…

This report shares the initial Phase 1 results from a quantitative and qualitative study examining the feasibility and desirability of offering Minnesota students with limited English proficiency (LEP) a reading test with bilingual test items and answer choices. In considering the use of a native language translation accommodation to the Minnesota…

Addressing current research on the foundational skills of reading for the state of Alaska, this booklet is designed to get the most current information available about how children learn to read into the hands of everyone who can help children learn and grow as readers. It outlines previously researched core abilities including phonemic awareness,…

A study investigated the extent to which American learners of Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) are able to distinguish polite Japanese speech, and the effect of instruction on this skill. Specifically, it looked at performance on a midterm listening comprehension question in which students listened to self-introductory speeches of three job…

There are very few examples of audio-based computerized tests, but for many disciplines, such as foreign language and music, there appear to be many benefits to this type of testing. The purpose of the present study was to develop and compare computer-delivered and audiocassette/paper-and-pencil versions of a listening test. The test was a measure…

This paper describes a study which examined the effectiveness of explicit instruction in English intonation in listening tasks in an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) course taught to four Japanese high school students. The students' exposure to real-world English listening situations had been limited, and the majority were focusing more on…

A study examined the role of the native language (Arabic) in assessing the reading comprehension of learners of English as a second language. Subjects were 60 secondary school students in two comparable classes in Jordan. After receiving instruction for one month using reading material in the prescribed textbook, students were administered a…

Reports on a study to validate the use of the Picture Potency Formula for predicting the extent to which pictures will stimulate story production. Twenty-four children were asked to tell stories about pictures rated by the formula as being high, medium, and low potency pictures. Discusses potential uses for the formula. (FL)

Concludes that the affective goals subscribed to by many alternative high schools do have positive effects on some of the attitudes toward school, self, and others held by students, but that there is no relationship between measured attitudes and reading improvement. (FL)

This paper describes different approaches that have been used in research on reading, and reports on a study of reading comprehension in fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade students. Findings confirm that there are distinct age-related developmental levels in children's comprehension of literature. (PP)