The intention of this report is to build a strong case for a portfolio approach to assessment of reading and writing during the middle school years. A portfolio is both a collection of the artifacts of students' reading and writing and a disposition toward assessment. This disposition is characterized by the belief that assessment must be…

In fall 1987, a study was conducted by the Learning Assessment Retention Consortium (LARC) to closely inspect the reading courses and programs currently offered in the California community colleges. All 106 community colleges in the state were surveyed regarding testing instruments used, the number and level of reading courses offered, entry and…

A study investigated the effect of kindergarten class size on reading readiness achievement. Subjects, 2,837 kindergarten students in 38 elementary schools that serve rural, urban, suburban, and inner-city schools, participated in the first year of Project STAR (Student Teacher Academic Ratio) in 1985-86. The subjects' 140 kindergarten teachers…

Academic testing observed in a year-long study of kindergarten classes in 15 districts was primarily concerned with whether children were succeeding with the content of a basal reader readiness workbook that essentially dealt with phonics. Such success was viewed as a prerequisite for the first preprimer in the basal series, the use of which…

A collection of four years worth of data analyzing reading discrepancies for the Cleveland (Ohio) Public Schools is contained in this report, the fourth in a series addressing this issue. An introduction notes that data were gathered to determine the nature and extent of disparities in the reading test scores of elementary and secondary school…

A study was conducted to determine if knowledge of the purposes of written language facilitated reading achievement in preschool children. The study also compared the performance of boys and girls to determine if boys' generally poorer reading abilities could be related to differences in print awareness. Scores from the comprehension subtest of…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) test was administered to pupils in grade 1 for the first time, at state level, in April 1986. Students with certain disabilities and those with limited English proficiency were exempted from this testing cycle. This 84-item test measured 21 objectives: 8 for mathematics, 9 for reading, and…

The development of the Alberta Diagnostic Reading Program (ADRP) was based on a current psycholinguistic theory that describes reading as a process in which the reader uses background information to communicate with the author. To ensure its usefulness and effectiveness, the developers of the ADRP sought the advice and direct involvement of many…

Employing measures of attributional styles and metacognitive reading behaviors, a study investigated whether a relationship exists between passive reading behaviors and extreme attributional styles (learned helplessness) in college students on academic probation. Attributional style and metacognitive strategies exhibited while reading college text…

A study examined variables that affect the acquisition of automaticity of verbal skills. Among the variables examined were practice, novelty or familiarity of a word or word category, the speed and efficiency with which persons acquire automaticity, reaction time, and number of tasks performed concurrently. Subjects, 30 sixth and seventh grade…

Having implemented a policy that allowed schools to retain children in kindergarten an extra year, the Boulder Valley Public School District in Colorado conducted a study to determine the cognitive and emotional benefits of retention in kindergarten and the characteristics that led to decisions about retention. The study involved a research review…

This report contains Portland Achievement Levels Tests results for the 63 elementary schools, 16 middle schools, and 1 special program school in the Portland (Oregon) School District for the 1985-86 school year. Results in reading, language usage, and mathematics are reported for children in grades 3 to 8. Each school data page presents the…

The 39-day Summer Academic Skills Achievement Program in Franklin County, Ohio, was designed to increase the basic reading and mathematics skills of persons of at least high school age. It enabled clients to earn a full credit and up to $200 ($3.35 an hour) for successfully completing the program. Among the major findings of an evaluation of the…

To examine the effects of the language experience approach (LEA) on beginning reading achievement, a study analyzed five projects conducted as part of the United States Office of Education first grade studies and 32 additional studies comparing basal reading approaches to LEA. Using two methods of quantitative synthesis (vote-counting and…

The North Carolina Competency Testing Program in reading, mathematics, and writing has been administered in all public schools in the state to students in grade 10 and those in grades 11 and 12 who had not previously passed this test. A total of 72,324 and 72,393 sophomores took the reading and mathematics tests, respectively, in 1988. The reading…