A three-school study suggests that more intensive teacher effort, more attention to contriving successful pupil reading experiences, and freer delivery of "payoffs" to pupils who are reading, offer the possibility of modifying pupil attitudes about reading. (Author/RL)

Provides teaching strategies that not only give students extrinsic feedback, but also help students to develop a functional intrinsic feedback system, so that they can "self-monitor" their reading performance. (RL)

An independent statewide study of 4,735 elementary schools, conducted after three years of the Early Childhood Education Program (ECE) in California, indicates that ECE schools have lower reading scores in grades 2 and 3 when compared to non-ECE schools. Five potential causes for this discrepancy are discussed. (CP)

Schools in California's Early Childhood Education Program (ECE) have lower reading achievement than non-ECE schools; furthermore, schools which are both ECE and Title I score below all others. Three alternative policies are discussed: (1) continued expansion; (2) gradual termination; and (3) stable funding, explaining score discrepancies, and…

Describes a study in which poor readers gained more on a standardized reading test when they read books rather than comics, while good readers made similar gains using either comics or books. With comics, poor readers apparently spent more time looking at pictures and less time reading. (MKM)

A model relating nonintellectual behavior to first and second grade reading performance is supported. The three dimensions include: (1) behaviors reflecting adaptation to school; (2) individual differences in emotional states; and (3) individual differences in interpersonal behavior. These affective behaviors are measured using Lambert's Pupil…

Reading skills, general ability, and academic achievement were studied in El Salvadoran junior high school students who had recently acquired a television. There were no obvious effects on short-term achievement, but consistent negative effects on reading improvement were found. In the most disadvantaged students, general ability growth was…

The relative power of several variables in predicting school reading achievement was considered. Issues were raised concerning the efficacy of altering the resources allocated to a school or changing the social and racial composition of the student body as a strategy for raising achievement levels. (EVH)

Provides several lists of effective teachers' characteristics. Urges that reading teachers keep these characteristics in mind to improve the learning environment and thus help students become better readers. (RL)

Describes a study that measured student attitude toward reading and reading-related concepts to determine the effects of grade level, reading achievement, sex, race, and social status upon reading attitudes. (Author/GW)

Attempts to ascertain whether small group, individualized instruction based upon an identified reading weakness was more effective than regular classroom instruction in terms of student reading achievement scores and in terms of student attitudes toward reading. (Author/RK)

The study compared the performance of severe and mild learning disabled children to normal children on a problem-solving task. The three types of children were assessed on the Matching Familiar Figures task. Results indicated that on the MFF, LD children, as a group, were more impulsive than normal children. (Author)

Notes that the Cuban method of teaching reading is similar to the Soviet approach but also has much in common with the mastery-oriented strategies of North America. Examines similarities and differences. (FL)

Discusses the evaluation and testing procedures schools use to evaluate and test reading achievement. Identifies three major categories of tests: achievement/survey, diagnostic, and informal reading inventories. (AEW)

Describes a study of the effect of incongruent prior knowledge on fifth- and sixth-graders' text comprehension, indicating that text structures that explicitly contrasted the reader's misconception with the correct information were more effective than those that simply gave correct information. (HTH)