Models of self-regulated learning describe learners as actively and mindfully employing cognitive and metacognitive strategies as they pursue their learning goals. Self-regulated learners set goals, plan, and use a variety of cognitive strategies, monitor progress towards their goals, and manage their emotional states. However, many classroom…

A study aimed to examine how reading assessment information is understood and used by two powerful groups: federal legislators and members of the news media. Attempts were made to contact federal legislators on educational subcommittees to discuss how they used reading assessment information to make legislative policy decisions and to vote on…

A study explored 18 Georgia third graders' perceptions of literacy teaching and learning during the second year of their teacher's transition from a traditional, textbook-based approach to a whole language, literature-based approach. Data gathering included 8 months of observation and of in-depth interviews with students. Analysis revealed that…

Noting that existing research reveals considerable diversity among researchers' philosophical stances toward literature-based reading instruction versus traditional basal reading instruction, a study determined what effects literature-based instruction had on the reading achievement of fourth graders. Subjects, fourth-grade students of the John P.…

A study examined the relations among the diversity of the social groupings in which children participated in home literacy events and the social groupings, oral language, and literacy in first-grade literacy events. Subjects, 35 children in two first-grade classrooms in the same school district in a small city in the southeastern United States,…

Because a teacher who demonstrates a love of literature and reading is a valuable model for children, a study determined the knowledge of children's and adolescent literature of students enrolled in a graduate reading methods course. A questionnaire entitled "What's Your Literature Quotient?" was administered to 72 teachers concerning…

Interviews with children about their knowledge of a set of words was used to examine the concurrent validity of three paper-and-pencil measures of knowledge of these words--a standardized vocabulary test and two experimenter-designed tests. One experimenter-designed test, the Levels test, had three multiple-choice items per word that targeted…

A study investigated the relationships among prior topic knowledge, information in elementary science text, and the construction of visual representation of key text ideas. Eight preservice elementary teachers were first interviewed on two topics in science ("how plants get their food" and "air and weather"); then they read…

A study determined the interrelationships among children's storybook reading behavior and knowledge of print concepts in kindergarten and their reading ability at the end of first grade. A sample of 21 subjects, ranging in age from 5 years 10 months to 6 years 8 months, was randomly selected from the morning and afternoon kindergarten sessions at…

A study examined the effects of implicitly embedding short passages explicating information (etymological, analogical, or causal) within a given text on the learning of verbal information. Instructional materials were developed which used two different sequences, one control group receiving filler materials, and three groups receiving one of the…

This paper explores the educational role of newspapers in increasing participation in the presidential nomination process. Democratic caucus coverage in 9 daily Missouri newspapers (out of 44 dailies in the state) was examined for the inclusion of concrete, participatory information about the 1992 caucus. Newspapers published over a 5-day period…

Despite widely-held beliefs to the contrary, three different sources of research data prove that children in the 1990s read better on the average than either their father's generation or their grandfather's generation. "Then and Now" studies indicate that students read better now than decades ago. Restandardization of test norms also…

This monograph offers a progress report on reading in America. The monograph considers the idea that contemporary research indicates that competent readers are constructive and discusses reading habits of adults and children, data on 17-year-olds from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, reading instruction, reader response theory, and…

A case study involved the adaptation of Reading Recovery technique in an attempt to improve the alphabet knowledge of a kindergarten student. Over a 2-week period, recovery techniques were employed in one-on-one sessions, the goal of which was to increase the student's ability to recognize and produce five letters of the alphabet. Assessments…

A study examined the reading values taught in reading textbooks over 200 years, including the top seven basals in use in U.S. public schools through 1995. A rare books collection at a university library was the major source of data. Value "labels" were determined for each selection. Results indicated that: (1) the average reader of 100…