Presents results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1998 Reading Assessment for the nation. Includes average scores and achievement-level performance for the United States, comparisons with 1994 and 1992 results, and results for subgroups of students. (Author)

An ETS adult-literacy study, ignored by the media, showed that teachers' prose, document, and quantitative literacy was higher than that of most other professionals. Administrators scored lower than teachers in all three literacies. Meanwhile, a highly publicized Home School Legal Defense study glorified privileged students' predictable test…

Provides qualified support for the work of Martin and colleagues in that kindergarten measures of negative emotionality were correlated with grade 1 reading measures. Results show that persistence and intelligence affected reading achievement. Implications for school psychological assessment process, classroom instruction, and primary prevention…

The Mukilteo (Washington) School District developed an assessment plan to provide reliable feedback on primary students' reading performance, allow documentation of student progress over time, and enlighten parents. Collaborating with the University of Washington, the district decided to employ timed oral reading fluency measures to screen all K-3…

Describes how the author became concerned that she and other teachers were focusing so much on reading levels that other ways of describing children as readers were being ignored and devalued. Describes how she involved her students in engagements to examine and challenge the ways students were describing and defining themselves as readers. (SR)

Examined the developmental relationship of children's motivational orientations and reading skills from preschool through grade 2. Results for 48 children show that regressive and progressive reading career groups of matching initial phonemic awareness and verbal ability did not differ motivationally at preschool but motivational orientation did…

Notes that less skilled readers have difficulty suppressing active, but irrelevant, information during comprehension. Investigates whether the mechanism responsible for suppressing the inappropriate meaning of a word is an automatic process or a strategic, controlled one. Finds that less skilled readers may have difficulty executing a strategic…

Test results were compared for 925 11-year-olds who completed Summer Literacy Schools before transfer to secondary education and 1,097 controls. Both groups declined significantly between pre- and posttesting, with no significant differences between groups. Anxiety about transition may lead to decline in achievement. (SK)

This study examined the contribution of the home environment to the reading achievement of 49 children and adolescents with low vision. It found that children with no books at home read less well than those with books at home, but that no other home variables were related to reading achievement. (DB)

Discusses the factors involved in determining text difficulty. Discusses some of the reasons children choose to read certain materials, such as personal connections, culture and language, interest, and expertise. Illustrates these factors through descriptions of work with individual students, classroom observations, and research on students'…

Assesses fifteen 7- to 12-year-old blind children using standardized measures of intelligence, spelling and reading. Finds they performed poorer when reading than their chronological age would predict. Compares blind and age-matched children's ability to segment heard words, which are written in Braille with and without contractions. Finds words…

Studied the relationship between social support for academic achievement and achievement in reading and mathematics over a school year using data from surveys of 30,000 sixth and seventh graders in Chicago. Results show social support to be modestly but positively related to learning, but both learning and the relationship between social support…

Discusses the desirability of creating lifelong readers and suggests that the use of formulas to measure the reading levels of books and tests that assign reading levels to students do not help. Offers suggestions for school librarians to encourage reading, including helping students select books through readers' advisory. (LRW)

Discusses the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) survey of fourth grade student achievement in reading. Considers gender differences, ethnic differences, the Bush administration's Reading First Initiative, and educational funding; and provides an annotated list of pertinent Web sites. (LRW)

A Wisconsin program aimed to amplify the achievement benefits of class-size reduction by requiring supplementary pupil services, a standards-based curriculum, and related staff development and accountability. In one urban school district implementing the program, the program's achievement gains were marginalized by high per-student costs and…