Analyzes research which provides strong evidence indicating higher achievement in vocabulary and mathematics for comparable students in Catholic and other private schools than in public schools. The results are less consistent in reading. The analysis also shows the elements of school policy that can account for these differences. (RM)

Using 418 sixth-graders in Jamaica, sex, family size, birth order, occupational level, father's presence, preference for conceptual style, field dependence, reading achievement, and mental ability were examined in relationship to mathematics achievement. Mental ability, reading achievement, and family size, in that order, were found to predict…

Compares the reading comprehension and accuracy and listening comprehension of West Indian and English children living in England and having equivalent intellectual abilities. Finds no significant differences between the cultural groups. (FL)

Reading instruction and its effects were examined for 105 students in elementary classrooms for the learning disabled. Extensive detailed observations of students, teachers, and instructional material were used to explore the plausibility of a causal model of the effects of reading behaviors and instruction on students' reading performance.…

An extensive case history of instructional environment and acquisition of reading skills by 50 first-grade students in ten classrooms indicates that the rate at which students mastered decoding depended on classroom instruction with direct instruction appearing most profitable for children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. (MKM)

Reports that first grade children in Zaire who used a carefully controlled native language primer (developed to meet a need for up-to-date, relevant primers in Zairean languages) achieved higher reading scores than children who used an old (1952) primer. (GT)

A sample of 176 first-grade children was tested on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests, 1976 Edition (MRT), during the initial month of school and was retested eight months later on the Stanford Achievement Test. Results demonstrated substantial validity of the MRT for predicting first-grade achievement. (Author/CTM)

Discusses two major misconceptions about reading shared by many teachers, students, and parents: reading instruction should take place in the elementary schools, and only those students having problems need help in reading. It offers suggestions for integrating the teaching of reading skills with the teaching of physics content. (SK)

A study involving five fourth-grade behavior problem children with reading failure was designed to replicate an earlier study which demonstrated positive effects of teacher written praise notes as motivating agents for improved performance. (SBH)

Details an investigation of the relative contribution of two dimensions of field dependence-independence to the prediction of specific reading skills for first-grade children in an intensive phonics program and in a basal reader program supplemented with phonics. (FL)

Indicates that a child's self-esteem is not significantly related to reading gains in individual remedial reading instruction. (FL)

Reanalysis of data on 154 British Columbia teachers and 2,533 third-grade students, drawn from the 1990-91 Reading Literacy Study of the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement. Despite British Columbia's reputation for whole-language reforms, teacher approaches to reading instruction were eclectic and unrelated to…

Studies the relationship between Dutch students' attitudes toward German, the course material, and the teacher and students' achievements in German. Results show that students having positive attitudes achieved more than those with negative attitudes and that students enrolled in a communicative course had more positive attitudes than those in a…

This study examined the effects of instructional match and content overlap on the ability of four students (ages 8-12) with mild disabilities to generalize from passage reading instruction. Results indicated that oral reading accuracy/fluency showed the greatest degree of generalization when instructional materials were matched to skill level…

A study of 17 first-graders identified at high risk for a reading disability investigated the effects of community tutors on reading performance. When compared to the performance of matched controls, the children performed better on spelling and segmentation but not on reading. Skills declined at the second-grade follow-up evaluation. (CR)