This study examined how upper elementary biology students grasped the concepts of mean and deviation from mean and the implications of these concepts. Pretesting and posttesting of students who did and did not have computer assisted training in the concepts indicated that though most students failed in more difficult tasks, experimental students…

Asserts that informational reading material is scarce in primary classrooms and that many primary grade teachers do not know enough strategies for helping children understand this type of reading material. Describes an effort to engage a group of first-grade children in reading and writing experiences involving informational texts and related…

A study investigated the effectiveness of supplemental reading instruction that included intensive, explicit, and systematic reading instruction in fluency, phonemic awareness, instructional-level reading with an emphasis on comprehension, word analysis, and spelling. The intervention was effective in improving the reading skills of 70…

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) provided descriptive data on the speech and language of 25-month-olds. Findings indicated great range in the stage of expressive language development achieved. Girls showed more advanced skills than boys. A clear pattern was identified in use of sound classes. Child verbal comprehension…

Examined the influence of the social use and the history of acquisition of Euskera on comprehension and recall of two versions (Euskera-Castilian) of a scientific text read by bilingual high school and college students. Results suggested that both extensive social use and an active history of acquisition of a language improve the level of…

A study investigated how assistive reading software affected the reading performance of 20 postsecondary students who had attention deficit disorder. The software allowed the students to attend better to their reading, reduce distractibility, read with less stress, and read for longer periods of time. It did not affect comprehension. (Contains…

Examined the influence of language anxiety as measured by a questionnaire on achievements in English writing and reading comprehension tasks. Subjects were native speakers of Hebrew, aged 12-13 years, learning English as a second language.(Author/VWL)

Traces the revision of narrative and expository text made by sixth grade students during a school year in which the focus was on improving reading comprehension and writing through instruction in text structure. Finds that only expository texts were judged to improve in writing quality by year end. (MG)

Describes the effect of including literary works of interest to adults on a developmental reading course offered to incarcerated adults. Notes that proper phrasing and intonation were identified and emphasized as aids to comprehension. Discusses skills emphasized in the course. Reports that classroom discussions were lively and interesting. (RS)

Reviews the related literature in the ares of questioning strategies and content area reading. Reports one teacher's attempt to determine whether specific questioning strategies increase scores on teacher-made tests. Finds that specific questioning strategies do improve performance on teacher-made tests. (MG)

Outlines a descriptive (not prescriptive) approach for the creation of a literature-based reading curriculum. Describes the 4 steps (behaving with basals, redefining reading, revving up for reading, and letting literature loose) that took the author 14 years of teaching to complete. Argues that literature-based reading programs are fun, enjoyable,…

Integrates readings from primary sources into introductory psychology courses by means of short writing assignments. Uses content-oriented feedback to focus and facilitate conceptual mastery of primary sources. Includes tables of student responses and notes positive evaluations endorsing writing as a means to introduce original sources. (Author/NL)

The abilities of 37 children in grades 2, 4, and 6 to recall and answer questions concerning motives of characters in fables were examined when motives were implicit or explicit with regard to text, or implicit with regard to script. Overall, children had difficulty in comprehending characters' motives. (SLD)

Analyzes elementary teachers' interactions with students during guided reading of basal reader selections to determine the extent to which the interactions promote students' metacomprehension abilities. Finds that teachers assumed most of the responsibility for students' comprehension themselves rather than conducting the lessons in a manner that…

A study of 26 college seniors used introspective and retrospective interviewing to assess cognitive processes used during multiple-choice reading comprehension tests. Categories of processing identified included an overall approach to the test task, reading strategies, and test-taking strategies. (TJH)