States that reading incentives have not been critically examined as to their effectiveness in promoting positive attitudes toward reading, more frequent reading, or increased proficiency. Examines available evidence on the effect of reading incentives in school and library programs for students. Concludes there is no clear causal relationship…

Explored how children's literacy skills and resources at the start of kindergarten relate to their reading and mathematics achievement at the end of kindergarten and the start of first grade. Data are from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (National Center for Education Statistics). Findings show that children…

Analyzes pre- and post-test measures of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) of oral reading fluency and reading comprehension collected from a sample of middle school students in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the computer-based Reading Plus and Guided Reading program. Obtains significant differences in discrepancy ratios from pre- to…

Examines the effectiveness of phonemic awareness drills on phonological awareness and word reading performance in English of Mainland Chinese students in primary school. Notes findings strongly support the statement that explicit instruction in phonemic awareness promoted phonological awareness and word reading in English of Chinese primary school…

Highlights the methodological issues surrounding research on reading in atypical populations and discusses the issue of comparison groups. Reviews evidence from studies that have described the reading profile observed in Williams syndrome. Advocates a more dynamic developmental approach to the study of reading in atypical populations. (PM)

Attempts to address, on behalf of the teacher of reading, some pedagogically significant aspects of metacognition. Tests the effect of using Metacognitive Awareness Guidance (MCAG) in reading assessment tasks given to nine-year-old Israeli pupils. Notes teachers' reactions related to four aspects: use of self-talk, use of metacognitive learning…

Reading-related skills were tested in adults with and without reading disabilities (RD) or with profound hearing impairment (PHI). Both RD and PHI groups demonstrated low levels of phonological awareness but the RD group also exhibited deficits in verbal short-term memory, morphological awareness, speeded written naming, reading comprehension, and…

A word frequency study of two graded readers and an unsimplified text indicated that graded readers facilitated better foreign-language reading and vocabulary learning than did unsimplified texts. It was found that students needed to read several same-level texts to master vocabulary, and that vocabulary mastery was not necessary for successful…

Compares the effects of basal and whole language approaches on the reading achievement of first grade students. Finds no statistically significant differences in reading achievement between classes taught with a basal approach or with a whole language approach. (RS)

Use of Sentence Verification Technique (SVT) reading comprehension tests as general and specific predictors of learning performance in college courses was studied in experiments with 119 and 138 students attending Westfield State College (Massachusetts). Results suggest that appropriate SVT tests can predict general performance and performance in…

Delineated characteristics of over- and under-achievers within a sample of 372 randomly selected public school students aged 6 through 17 years from 3 racial-ethnic groups and 2 levels of socioeconomic status. Found discrepant achievement not to be unique to particular race, intelligence, gender, age, family size, or degree of family intactness.…

Addresses the need to include all available data (physical, environmental, language, cognitive, affective, and educational correlates of reading) to evaluate students' reading strengths and weaknesses. Argues that this holistic approach makes the assessment of reading skills efficient and avoids test replication. (RS)

School effectiveness indices based on residuals from regressing test performance onto prior test performance and socioeconomic status were obtained for two consecutive years for 431 elementary schools. The resulting indices were found to be stable, and it was found that grade-within-school effects dominated global school effects. (TJH)

Findings from a longitudinal study of 35 school-aged children indicate that a statistically significant and moderately large correlation exists between preschool concepts about the purpose of literacy activities and subsequent success in reading acquisition. (IAH)

Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using oral or silent reading rates to evaluate reading ability. Argues that although there are potential problems with measuring reading rates, it can be a useful way of documenting students' progress. (MM)