Examines the English reading scores of a group of primary aged children in South Texas being educated in a dual language program (Spanish and English). Finds that balanced language development (equal competence in all areas of the two languages) does not have a negative influence on reading comprehension in English. Finds that the more balanced…

Examined the impact of parent-school involvement on Title I second through eighth graders' reading and mathematics achievement, noting the effect of student gender and socioeconomic status (SES). Student testing data, SES data, and information on parent involvement indicated that parental involvement, regardless of child's gender or SES, was a…

Voluntary national tests based on national and international benchmarks can be powerful tools for change in all schools. The tests would help monitor students' progress at two key educational junctures--fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math. Tests would be based on the National Assessment of Education Progress content frameworks and…

Investigates effects of the Success for All (SFA) program on elementary school students' reading achievement in 4 cities. Finds greater achievement for students in SFA classes at 3 sites, especially for students achieving below the 25th percentile, relative to students in control classrooms, but effects were not as strong and consistent as in the…

Describes children's gains in two areas during the kindergarten year: overall reading and mathematics knowledge and skills and specific knowledge and skills. Examines differences by child, family, and school characteristics. Data are from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, which will follow these students from kindergarten through fifth…

Discusses individualized reading instruction in the United States in its historical context. States that effective, child-centered, individualized reading programs are guided by three principles: the desires, needs, and motives of each child; individual abilities, interests, and instructional needs; and opportunities for social interaction. Points…

Finds that teaching 13-year-old poor readers to use effective reading strategies convinced them that reading successes and failures were attributable to use of effective or ineffective strategies; improved their comprehension performance and increased use of reading strategies; and reduced their perceptions of learned helplessness. (RS)

Examines the relationship between early childhood education and primary school academic achievement in the Solomon Islands. Notes factors influencing higher performance in reading comprehension and mathematics skills, and use of age appropriate materials. Offers insights for educators, policy planners, communities, and families. (JPB)

Studied the average development of word recognition, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling of poor and better readers during the elementary school period and studied whether differences between these readers increased over time. Results for 3 cohorts of about 900 children each contradict the existence of a Matthew effect for word…

Determines what elementary teachers' believe are the most effective assessment practices for gathering data about the reading performance of their students. Finds that teachers perceived all reading assessment as having some degree of merit. Examines the views of beginning and experienced teachers, as well as primary and intermediate teachers. (SG)

This study explored the contribution of two working memory (WM) systems to reading performance in younger and older children. Results showed significant age-related differences in verbal and visual-spatial WM performance were maintained when articulation speed and short-term memory were partialed from the analysis and that WM predicted age-related…

Prison inmates (n=71) were randomly assigned to an experimental group (computer-assisted and traditional instruction) or control group (traditional only). The study attempted to avoid flaws of similar research by using the same traditional instructors, same length of instruction, and posttest administration after 4 weeks. No differences in reading…

Compares the effects of specific and general abilities on the reading and mathematics achievement of students from three ethnic groups. Results suggest that specific abilities are important for understanding student achievements, and that the same abilities are important for all ethnic groups. (Author/MKA)

Examines racial/ethnic and gender bias on curriculum-based measurement (CBM) of reading with African American and Caucasian students across grades 2-5. Results indicate that CBM fails as an unbiased indicator of current reading comprehension. Although no evidence of bias was found at grades 2 and 3, intercept bias was found for racial/ethnic…

Examines how different types of word recognition instruction appeared to affect students with different early literacy foundations. Finds differences in instructional practices to be related to growth in reading. Identifies four classroom practices that seemed to have the greatest success with children entering first grade with minimal reading…