The design and development of a test of inference ability in reading comprehension for grades 6, 7, and 8 (the Phillips-Patterson Test of Inference Ability in Reading Comprehension) are described. After development of a contemporary theoretical framework for the test of inference ability in reading comprehension, the design, item development, and…

In the spring of 1985, the Oregon Department of Education conducted an assessment of eighth graders' skills in writing, reading, and mathematics. The state reading test consisted of two parts: the first designed to measure students' inferential and evaluative reading comprehension and selected study skills, the second designed to measure students'…

Study of 11-year-old Swedish-speaking learners of English (N=21) reading two passages from an English fairytale for meaning found that the subjects mainly made use of two knowledge sources (their mother tongue and previous knowledge of the tale) to comprehend the tale. (Author/CB)

Compared the use of conditional logic in adult-adult and adult-child conversation. Results indicated that conversation patterns and inferences were similar except that children made fewer independent inferences and shifts in taxonomic level and responded more frequently to socially controlling statements than did adults. (AA)

Describes study of undergraduates that investigated learners' preconceptions of the difficulty of interactive video, instructional television, and television. The effects of actively or covertly responding to practice questions on perceived mental effort, recall, and inferences are examined, and correlations between lesson time and inference or…

This paper examines the effect of gender on English reading comprehension for Korean EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners. The gender effect was measured using a DIF (Differential Item Functioning) methodology. Specifically, gender DIF was investigated for a random sample of 14,000 Korean examinees (7,000 males and 7,000 females) who took…

In this article, the author discusses the use in policy analysis of models that incorporate uncertainty. He believes that all models should consider incorporating uncertainty, but that at the same time it is important to understand that sampling variability is not usually the dominant driver of uncertainty in policy analyses. He also argues that…

This action research project report documents the action research project that was conducted to improve reading comprehension with second grade and third grade students. The teacher researchers intended to improve reading comprehension by using higher-order thinking skills such as predicting, making connections, visualizing, inferring,…

Many of the most talented authors and artists of the past and present have shared their thoughts and their gifts with young children through picture books. Many picture books allow young children to explore important ideas and to stretch their minds far beyond rote memorization. Young children absorb knowledge at a very rapid pace. In an age of…

As part of the special education curriculum developed by the Puerto Rico Department of Public Instruction, this teacher's guide (in Spanish) presents a basic curriculum for reading skills. The curriculum is designed so that the defined skills will meet the needs of children with disabilities. The form in which teachers and other professionals will…

A teaching team leader and second grade teacher designed and implemented a 10-week practicum intervention meant to improve the inferential comprehension of 105 second graders whose reading scores on the Ginn Mastery Tests revealed a gap between inferential and literal comprehension. It was reasoned that the gap would decrease if teachers were…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) was developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in response to Texas House Bill 72 (1984), which mandated a new basic skills assessment program for mathematics, reading, and writing at grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. This is one in a series of Instructional Strategies Guides designed to…

A study examined the existence in elementary school children of (1) sentence constructivity, (2) developmental differences in constructivity, (3) differences in constructivity across performance levels, and (4) differences after a one- or two-day delay. The study was intended as a partial replication of work by C. Z. Blachowicz (1977-78), which…

Designed to contribute to the growing effort to teach critical thinking skills, this guide provides teachers with (1) a simple, usable set of definitions for recall, analysis, comparison, inference, and evaluation; (2) brief explanations of three common forms of classroom assessment (oral questioning during instruction, paper and pencil objective…

This report based on the March 1985 supplement to the Current Population Survey presents demographic, social, and economic data on the Hispanic population in the United States, and focuses on social and economic changes between 1982 and 1985. The Hispanic civilian noninstitutional population in March 1985 totaled about 17 million, a 17% increase…