Examines importance of a school climate characterized by high levels of academic emphasis. Drawing on effective-schools research and social-cognitive theory, uses hierarchical linear modeling to show that academic emphasis accounts for differences among urban elementary schools in student math and reading achievement. (Contains 48 references.)…

Evaluates the relationship between within-district transfers and achievement among elementary schools in metropolitan system. Negative correlations were indicated with significant differences in reading, mathematics, language and total achievement battery scores favoring schools with little or no student mobility. Discusses implications and…

Examines relationships between temperament, social skills, and academic competence with reading and math in first grade students. Parents and teachers rated students (N=104) with social skills battery at the beginning of the year and psychoeducational battery at the end of the year. Teacher ratings of persistence and approach/withdrawal and parent…

Analyzed the 1994 Grade 4 Maryland National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) regarding the effects on reading achievement and engagement of: students' amount of engaged reading, parental education, gender, balanced reading instruction, and reading opportunities. Amount of engaged reading predicted reading achievement after controlling for…

Investigates differential effects of small classes on academic achievement among disadvantaged elementary students using data from Tennessee's Student Achievement Ratio Project. While positive effects of small classes are evident on both reading and mathematics achievement, there is no evidence of differential effects for low socioeconomic status…

Examined the effect of the Alliance of Quality Schools project, a 5-year intervention for at-risk Florida students, on student reading performance after the 5th year. Effects on academic achievement for elementary and middle school students varied by grade level and year. The highest increase in student performance occurred in 4th grade for…

This article discusses the characteristics of the gifted reader including above-average ability in key skills, task commitment, and creativity. Underachieving gifted readers, identification procedures for gifted readers, and classroom programming for gifted readers are addressed, and the advantages and disadvantages of enrichment and acceleration…

Inner-city families with babies received books under Project Bookstart. Follow-up of 41 children in their first year of school showed that, compared with 41 who did not participate in the project, participants were significantly farther ahead in six measures of literacy and numeracy. (SK)

Describes a model for assessment of vocabulary difficulty within the framework of dynamic reading assessment. Follows two seventh-grade students, both experiencing difficulty with vocabulary, through the assessment process. Discusses how one student was referred for speech and language evaluation and the other was not. Presents instructional…

Suggests that Canada's public education system continues to successfully enculturate and educate students of varying abilities and vocational aspirations. Claims that if the Ontario Literacy Test succeeds in undermining public confidence in the present system, the Harris government will have set the stage for the system's demise by creating a…

Investigates what skills are best able to account for orthographic analogy use during early reading and tests the finding that there is no independent association between reading ability and orthographic analogy use. Suggests that phonemic awareness and reading experience best account for analogy use, while orthographic analogy use contributes to…

Examines specific effects of home literacy on the development of word decoding and reading comprehension from first through third grade. Results reveal that parents' instructional and social-emotional quality had an effect on the development of reading comprehension, but not on word decoding. (Contains 62 references and 4 tables.) (GCP)

A secondary analysis of previously published data shows that high-socioeconomic status (SES) English language learners (ELLs) outperform low-SES fluent English speakers on tests of math, and they do about as well on tests of reading. Thus, for ELLs, SES can offset the effects of language proficiency on standardized tests of math and reading. This…

In view of the current emphasis on teachers' contextual assessment of emergent literacy skills, we need to determine the degree to which such assessments are valid judgments about children's early literacy skill development. One approach to this issue would be to examine closely the relationship between teacher ratings of literacy skills and…

Guided oral reading fluency instruction is a research-validated strategy for improving reading achievement. This article addresses ways to individualize guided oral reading fluency instruction for students with emotional and behavioral disorders using behavioral principles. In addition, the article explains how to use data to set goals and monitor…