A study was designed to improve fifth-graders' limited use of comprehension monitoring processes during reading through a self-instructional approach. Thirty-nine average and superior comprehenders were tested on their ability to detect inconsistencies contained in short essays prior to, immediately after, and one week after participation in one…

In order to advance our understanding of the mechanisms through which women come to be underrepresented in mathematics and science, factors associated with the academic choices of students in three grade ll classes were studied. Information was gathered through questionnaires, interviews with students and with their mathematics teachers, classroom…

The inappropriateness of using standardized achievement tests to measure the cognitive skills of Navajo children was demonstrated in a 1975-76 case study of 17 Navajo preschool and daycare children in Los Angeles. The Circus Receptive Vocabulary Test and the Circus Quantitative Concept Test were given individually to each child. Scores were…

The hard-cover basal textbook continues to dominate teaching and learning in elementary social studies, particularly as a reaction to reduced budgets, the back to basics movement, state-wide testing, and criticism of less traditional teaching practices. Two problem areas encountered by children when using social studies textbooks include lack of…

While previous studies have investigated children's awareness of two units within words--syllables and phonemes, there is experimental evidence that children are also aware of intrasyllabic units (units intermediate in size between the syllable and the phoneme), and that these units may be useful for teaching phonological awareness and reading.…

Cognitive and achievement levels were analyzed for 192 students (grades 1-12) served in generic special education resource rooms in a Texas community, using cognitive and achievement test data, service delivery information, and demographic data. Grade levels of the subjects were used as a constant in the data analysis. Among reported findings were…

The York Region Board of Education in Ontario, Canada, screens students for giftedness in grade 3. This report analyzes data produced in the 1986-87 screening procedure, involving approximately 3,400 students. The report begins with a review of procedural changes that were designed to make the screening more effective and efficient than earlier…

Using recent theory and research on individual differences, learning, and instruction, this paper attempts to answer the following two questions: What criteria should be used to select students to receive services under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (1981) and what kinds of chapter 1 services should be provided to…

To examine the role of phonetic code in memory, a study investigated the use of phonetic recoding strategies in fifth and sixth graders identified as good and poor readers. Subjects--120 students with IQ scores in the average range--were divided evenly between both grades. Thirty subjects from each grade who scored above the 50th percentile on the…

The question of whether basic skills courses belong in higher education is examined through a review of the literature. The following issues are discussed in terms of opposing and supporting positions: (1) economic concerns (recruitment of a wider pool of students necessitate basic skills courses but preserve enrollment levels); (2) academic…

This report examines student performance on a test composed of items developed to be aligned with the Charleston County School District (CCSD) Language Arts Comprehension Curriculum. The report contains a data analysis section that explains the relationship between two basic concepts of the Rasch measurement model, item difficulty and student…

An extensive body of research indicates that men on the average achieve higher scores in mathematics than women. Despite this extensive research, conclusions about sex differences in mathematics achievement have suffered from various inadequacies in the use of measures of association among coursework experiences, sex, and other correlates of…

One approach to test bias has focused on identifying the potential variables or factors that may be responsible for bias in a particular test for a particular subgroup. This approach was employed in this study to determine variables which may relate to differential test performance by Anglo and Hispanic students. The test materials used in this…

A total of 59 Senegalese adult and college students filled out a questionnaire in a study designed to gather data about their reading habits. The 15-item instrument, written in English and French, required yes or no responses to questions that described students' satisfaction with reading ability, types of materials read, perceptions of reading…

Offering guidelines for future Follow Through program design, documentation, and evaluation, this paper examines the bases of criticisms of standardized tests, describes learning characteristics of black children, and briefly enunciates a system for Follow Through evaluation efforts. Discussion of standardized tests addresses the following…