Reviews studies from the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development, drawn together by David Berliner, regarding the amount of classroom learning time spent on reading, and suggests ways to use time effectively to improve reading achievement. (DD)

Describes the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests and evaluates their suitability for testing reading, concluding that they appear to be carefully developed survey tests of general reading achievement. (DD)

Reviews the history and rationale of uninterrupted sustained silent reading and the research related to the technique. Draws conclusions regarding its effectiveness in reading instruction and its place in the elementary school curriculum. (FL)

Details a study of letter reversals, word reversals, and letter sequence errors made by students in grades 1, 2, and 3 while reading a meaningful text. (FL)

Reexamines Preston's 1962 study of reading achievement of American and German boys and girls in the light of implications the study has had on the literature and compares it with recent studies. (MKM)

Reports the effect of the study of connectives on the reading comprehension of 41 seventh- and eighth-grade students. Indicates that the study of connectives had a positive effect on reading achievement. (TJ)

Compares effectiveness of the Gates-MacGinitie Readiness Skills Test (G-M) and Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) for predicting reading achievement in grade one and studies whether either test differentially predicts reading in an i.t.a. approach or a t.o. sight approach. G-M was a better predictor than ITPA for both groups.…

Multiple-regression procedures were used to assess effectiveness of the ABC Inventory and the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) in predicting first- and third-grade reading achievement. MRT performance accounted for 11 percent of the variance in first-grade SRA reading scores. In predicting third-grade reading, the MRT accounted for 26 percent of…

Investigation of the effect of establishing purposes for reading upon reading comprehension showed that neither specific nor general reading directions appeared to affect performance and that purpose-setting directions served to discriminate between intentional and incidental information only for above-grade-level readers.

Research indicates that reading aloud to children significantly improves their vocabulary knowledge and their reading comprehension while affecting reading interests and language development. (DD)

When critiquing a 1992 IEA study of reading in 31 nations, Herbert Walberg unfairly panned U.S. reading instruction, considering that American 9-year-olds finished second and 14-year-olds tied for eighth place. Apparently, "progress" was down for high-scoring countries. Two UCLA researchers discovered that the Los Angeles student…

Suggests Internet resources can assist teachers in meeting the needs of struggling readers with "just right" books. Addresses using the Internet in determining a child's reading level, determining a book's reading level, and ensuring students' access to reading materials. (RS)

Studies the reading, spelling, and orthographic skills of Grade 3 children who met their criteria for double asset (DA), single phonological deficit (PD), single naming speed deficit (NSD), and double deficit (DD) groups. Reveals main effects of each factor, oftentimes modified by significant interactions, on the varied achievement measures. (SG)

Compared the observation of children's growth in reading using grade equivalents with that using the Rasch simultaneous vertical equating procedure. Results from equating 25 reading tests show that grade equivalents differ more between two different test forms than do ability measures obtained from the Rasch simultaneous vertical equating. (SLD)

Discusses the belief that divergent language usage has a negative impact on visible demonstration of academic reading achievement. Illustrated this through a case study of Gullah-speaking students. While students' indigenous language patterns created holistic pictures, they did not use the exact word to communicate the appropriate meaning to those…