This article overviews a summative evaluation of the School Advisory Center's innovative initial reading curriculum program from 1972 to 1978 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The evaluation design used was Stake's "countenance model" with description and observation matrices. Reading achievement results were disappointing and were attributed…

This study examines dispositional and situational approaches to attribution research, individual differences in self-attribution, and the relationship between self-attributions and dimensions of self-concept. Results of a study of 248 fifth graders in Sydney, Australia, are discussed. (BS)

Correlations of home and school environment variables with the educational performance of 392 seven- and ten-year-old students in Northern Ireland were studied in 1970. Home influences of parent behavior, home literacy, and educational ambition were more important predictors of intelligence and reading/math attainment than were school and…

Reading ability of fourth- and eighth-grade Hungarians was assessed as part of the national CTD-80 (Curriculum Theory Department) survey. The texts used in the reading tests are analyzed, as are the reading tasks involved. Resulting achievement test results are presented and described in terms of the text characteristics. (GDC)

New Hampshire is in the midst of a transition--a transition between assessment systems--a transition between accountability systems. The elementary grades were assessed with the newly developed New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) tests in October 2005. The high school (grade 10) will be assessed with New Hampshire's previous state-wide…

This paper explores reading for pleasure, its importance, and its impact on literacy attainment and other outcomes and reviews much of the research on the importance of reading for pleasure. A debate has been rife in the UK over the past few years as to how best to teach children to read, which culminated in an "Independent Review of the…

"Reading Mastery" is a direct instruction program designed to provide explicit, systematic instruction in English language reading. Reading Mastery is available in two versions, "Reading Mastery Classic" levels I and II (for use in grades K-3) and "Reading Mastery Plus," an integrated reading-language program for…

This report presents the results of the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment for the nation and for the participating states and jurisdictions. Comparisons are made to students' performance in the national assessments of 1992, 1994, and 1998 at grades 4, 8, and 12. Comparison data are given within and across…

This report highlights the results of the 2002 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade reading assessment for the nation. Results in 2002 are compared to previous NAEP reading assessments. It describes assessment content; presents major findings as average scale scores and percentages of students…

A study examined how two international studies--the 1991 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Reading Literacy Study and the 2001 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS, also conducted by IEA)--compared to each other in the aspects of reading literacy each assessed, the types of texts they…

This inservice professional development module, part of the Alabama Reading Initiative, presents research summaries, notes for presenters, and activities. The Phonemic Awareness and Phonics module clarifies that skilled readers are accurate and automatic decoders (i.e., they have the alphabetic principle). Phonics instruction must empower all…

This study described a program designed to increase student reading comprehension in order to improve academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of third and eighth grade students in two schools located in Northern Illinois. Evidence for the existence of the problem included scores from the Stanford Test, low academic performance on…

This report includes information from the National Indian Education Study of American Indian/Alaska Native students in grades 4 and 8 on the 2005 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in reading and mathematics. The national sample includes both public and private schools (i.e. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Defense Education…

An important feature of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is its ability to document trends in academic achievement on core curriculum areas over an extended period of time. This report presents the major results of the NAEP 1996 science, mathematics, reading, and writing long-term assessments. These results chart trends going…

ExceL grants are a local funding initiative of the Austin Independent School District (Texas) designed to improve student achievement at the elementary level. Schools submit proposals for the 4-year grants, and the amount of the grant is determined based on the number of students not meeting minimum expectations on the Texas Assessment of Academic…