Secondary schools--be they middle schools or high schools--are reading-rich environments. Secondary schools provide contexts in which students must regularly read and write competently to demonstrate their literacy achievement. In any given semester, there are short stories and novels to read, comprehend, and analyze; civics and science texts…

To explore whether different balances of fiction/non-fiction reading and challenge might help explain differences in reading achievement between genders, data on 45,670 pupils who independently read over 3 million books were analysed. Moderate (rather than high or low) levels of challenge were positively associated with achievement gain, but…

A study explored 97 less proficient fifth graders' use of imagery when given oral prompts to image or general memory directions (control) and when reading explicit or implicit texts. The effects of imagery on story comprehensions and affective responses were measured by immediate and delayed story recalls, cued recall questions, and an open-ended…

A study investigated the transfer effect of three different word recognition strategies. Subjects were 90 first- through fourth-grade children randomly drawn from an elementary school population to serve in the experimental group and a like number assigned to a non-instructed control group. Strategies taught to subjects were a graphophonic…

A longitudinal study investigated the effects of leisure time reading (reading at home for pleasure or fun) on pupils' reading achievement in school. Subjects, 736 students in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 in 30 schools located throughout the Netherlands, had their reading achievement determined five times: at the beginning and end of grade 3 and at the…

This edition of "NAEPFacts" highlights findings from the first attempt by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure elementary students' oral reading on a large scale. This article presents data on 1,136 fourth graders' oral fluency and its relationship to 3 other aspects of reading ability: comprehension,…

This paper describes and reports on the performance of six related artificial neural networks that have been developed for the purpose of readability analysis. Two networks employ counts of linguistic variables that simulate a traditional regression-based approach to readability. The remaining networks determine readability from "visual…

A study determined if a correlation existed between the use of predictable materials and the enhancement of reading skills. The specific reading skills in question were oral vocabulary, visual discrimination, letter and word recognition. Data were drawn from a group of first graders that represented a cross section of social, economic, and…

This document presents case studies and information related to the United States patent on a method of and structure for improving the reading efficiency of persons with specific dyslexia in which the reading matter is presented with a brightness substantially greater than the background of the reading material. The paper begins with a description…

A study examined the ability of 204 students in nine Illinois high schools to process and recall information contained in four newspaper elements: story texts, graphics, index boxes and pullout quotes. Students were randomly assigned to read the front page of one of 20 newspapers and answer questions based on information in the stories. Students…

A study investigated the reading skills of entering students at the Open University. Just over 2,000 of the 3,000 students (representing 10% of all students taking courses at the foundation level) completed questionnaires that were mailed to them. Subjects completed 3 cloze tests, graded in difficulty, and a vocabulary test. Results indicated that…

Suggesting that the process of reading, however complex, is knowable, and that the scientific study of reading is both necessary and possible, this book brings together what has been learned through the scientific study of reading by carefully observing readers in the act of reading. The book looks at reading in the real world, at how readers and…

This report provides a description of the design for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1994 Trial State Assessment in Reading and gives an overview of the steps involved in the implementation of the program from the planning stages through to the analysis and reporting of data. The report does not provide the results of the…

A study explored whether "typical" children (i.e., those who have not been identified as language-delayed but who have a low level of phonological awareness) differ in aspects of oral language and orthographic processing skills from those children with higher phonological awareness. Subjects were 17 children (ranging in age from 3 years…

Repeated readings are a common, recommended practice for beginning readers. A study compared the gains made by high level and low level ability first grade readers in reading fluency. An initial reading of text at a second grade reading level was audiotaped and analyzed for rate and accuracy. This was followed by four readings, including a…