Compared reading development among kindergartners in Hong Kong and the United States using measures of word recognition, phonological awareness, speeded naming, visual spatial skill, and processing speed. Found that models of early reading development were similar across cultures. The strongest predictor of reading was phonological awareness.…

Discussion of using Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to read electronic text focuses on a study that evaluated the use of PDAs for reading course materials in an Open University (United Kingdom) master's course. Considers activity theory and how the PDA changed reading, including portability, screen display, navigation difficulties, and…

Discusses the author's experiments concerning the processes involved in reading. Results confirmed many of Edmund B. Huey's results from the 1890s. Discusses three empirical arguments concerning the teaching of reading in elementary schools. (BG)

Examines the effects of increasing adolescents' awareness of their own response strategies to reading. Illustrates the importance of ensuring that all students discover for themselves not only what they have learned, but how they have learned it. (SR)

Proposes that both formal and informal tests of literature comprehension at the secondary level should be congruent with the latest research on the dynamic complexity of reading comprehension. Provides a conceptual framework and literary examples on how to design "transformative" tests (learning activities used for the purposes of…

Describes a coding system to motivate and assess students' journal entries as they respond to books they are reading. Argues that coded journal entries are an effective means for diagnosing reading comprehension difficulties. Contends that coding journal entries permits the students to become more conscious of their reading processes. (RS)

Describes a fictional science classroom/learning experience in which the teacher expresses mild surprise and pleasure at the way the children tend to steer the learning process themselves when they have a relevant purpose in mind. Argues that learning involves being able to express what one knows. (KEH)

Investigates the similarities and differences in cognitive processing during reading and writing activities as reported in the think-aloud protocols of an above-average and a below-average student. Concludes that the above-average student reported more behaviors and more behaviors that facilitated meaning-making than the below-average student. (RS)

Discussion of computer-assisted learning (CAL) versus book learning focuses on software called a book emulator that was applied to CAL to reflect desirable attributes of learning from books. A project at the University of York that used the book emulator in an electronics course is described, and future possibilities are suggested. (12 references)…

Describes how narrative texts can be represented as networks of causally related statements or events and presents empirical evidence that the networks predict performance on reading comprehension. Compares network theory to other theories of discourse comprehension. Suggests implications of causal representations for reading and composition…

Instead of decoding sentences, good readers build meaning by integrating their knowledge with the text. Reading assessment must shift from traditional quantifiable tests to a portfolio system incorporating multiple measures and indicators of expertise. Michigan and Illinois efforts to translate interactive reading theory into assessment practices…

Explores the problems faced in the testing of reading. Discusses research that assists administrators and instructors in choosing various standardized tests, and describes existing alternatives to traditional forms of testing. (RS)

Discusses some of the problems associated with literacy in the United States. Reviews literature and trends related to semiliteracy, assessment, skilled readers, decoding difficulties, and comprehension difficulties. Considers several questions related to literacy and education. (CW)

Studied effects of expert knowledge and metacognitive knowledge on strategy acquisition. Boys who were poor readers and baseball experts were trained in reading strategy using baseball or nonbaseball stories. Found that boys trained using baseball stories demonstrated greater strategy use; boys with higher metacognition demonstrated better…

Paints a portrait of a students' varied experiences with literature, and explains how the teacher brings the reading process to a conscious level with students and parents to help them appreciate readers' strengths. Intertwines several case studies of students and their awareness (or lack of awareness) of their own reading strategies. (RS)