Designed to explore new reading readiness predictors that are not found extensively in the more commonly used commercial group tests and to develop new indices to measure the level of reading readiness of beginning first graders, a study was undertaken involving 115 children. The factor of sex in reading readiness was also investigated. An…

Data collected during the standardization of the 1976 Metropolitan Readiness Tests (MRT) were examined to provide information on sex differences in prereading skills. The MRT are designed for administration either at the beginning of kindergarten or between kindergarten and first grade. Performance on the six subtests and the total test on both…

This publication offers the 57th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (NRC). This Yearbook begins with a preface and presents profiles of two awardees, John E. McEneaney and Scott G. Paris. Included in this Yearbook are the following papers: (1) The Education of African-American Students: Voicing the Debates, Controversies, and Solutions…

This handbook, intended for language teachers at all levels, is an introduction to foreign language testing. It is a revision and expansion of the edition that appeared ten years ago. This edition reflects contemporary concerns in measurement and evaluation and contemporary changes in teaching aims, particularly toward communicative competence.…

According to the most recent National Adult Literacy Survey, nearly half of Illinois adults lack sufficient reading proficiency to ensure job success and advancement in 21st century workplaces. The Test of Adult Basic Education is currently used as a pretest/posttest in Illinois' existing adult basic education, adult secondary education, and…

Specialists in child development have recommended that children be "read to" at an early age. Many children are read to, and some have been read to a great deal. However, much more is to be desired for some groups of the population and for some individuals. In recognition of the needs of these children this Curriculum in Listening Achievement was…

This rating form concerns the measurement of basic skills in connection with assessing reading readiness. Motor skills, ability to adjust to learning situations, familiarity with the alphabet, and general knowledge are assessed. See TM 001 111 for details of the Regional PIC program in which it is used. (DLG)

Notes that research supports the idea that children are confused about concepts related to beginning reading instruction. Reports on assessment instruments that are commercially available or can be devised by teachers. (FL)

The Canadian Readiness Test Learning Rate subtest and the Auditory Reception and Spatial Relations Concepts subtests on the Experimental Reading Readiness Test show high reliability in measuring the reading readiness of beginning first graders. The Experimental Test has a high coefficient of reliability as a total test. (SB)

A study examined the relationship between reading instruction method, sex of learner, word learning proficiency and reading achievement in the first grade. Subjects were 78 males and 88 females chosen from two white, middle class suburban schools, one having a sight vocabulary instruction program, the other a phonic basal program. Students were…

Prereading assessment was first used to predict school readiness and was an assessment of the child's visual and oral vocabulary skills. By the 1970s, readiness assessment had changed from assessment of a child's developmental probability for success or failure in reading to an assessment of the child's skill development in relation to the reading…

The Pre-Reading Assessment Inventory (PRAI) was designed to fill a need for a wide-range, individually administered diagnostic test of a child's prereading skills (especially auditory blending and segmenting), knowledge, encoding and decoding strategies, and understandings about the reading task. The test development was based upon the research…

During the first year of the program, 27 individual projects enrolling approximately 20,000 first-grade pupils were involved. Fifteen of these projects participated in a second-grade followup study. Some conclusions based on an analysis of data are (1) that prereading knowledge of letter names is the best single predictor of reading achievement in…

To aid in evaluating the First Year Communication Skills Program (FYCSP) and the Instructional Concepts Program (ICP) several tests were administered to two classes of kindergarten children. The objectives of the ICP were based on concepts that children would be expected to know when they entered the primary grades. The Instructional Concepts Test…

The current investigation was an exploration of the first year of a multi-year project designed to provide every Grade 3 to Grade 11 student throughout an English school board in Quebec with a laptop computer. Data were collected from 403 elementary and 270 secondary students from the experimental school board and also from 330 students in the…