Examines longitudinal prediction of English and Spanish reading skills in a sample of 249 Spanish-speaking English-language learners at 3 time points in kindergarten through Grade 1. Phonological awareness transferred from Spanish to English and was predictive of word-identification skills. Other variables showing cross-linguistic transfer were…

Followed beginning readers to examine phonological skill influences. Found segmentation strongly correlated with attainment in reading and spelling at end of first year. Also found that letter name knowledge predicted both reading and spelling skill and showed interactive effect with segmentation. Finally, found that by end of second year, rhyming…

This study examined the degree to which samples collected in product portfolios from 216 kindergarten through second-grade students were able to predict their successful performance in a gifted program four years later. Students whose product portfolios were in the top quarter performed significantly better on later math and reading achievement…

Reprints a classic article published in this journal in 1970. Considers the interplay between interest, motivation, and self direction on the one hand, and the reading levels concept on the other hand. Warns that the concept of reading levels is often focused on errors, and that this tends to distort perceptions with regard to the primary goal of…

Describes how subject area teachers at one high school used grant money to change their teaching styles, significantly improving students' reading abilities. Details how reading achievement testing was conducted and the results were translated into effective literacy reforms designed to go beyond "teaching to the middle." Tracks the experiences of…

Determines whether the types of open-ended questions and the levels of thinking that the questions called for in commercial Informal Reading Inventories were representative enough to allow users to determine the extent to which students remember, think about, or respond to what they are reading. Finds that Informal Reading Inventories may not be…

Investigates the effects of two parent tutoring reading programs upon children's reading achievement: one that used children's literature books and one that used each child's classroom basal reading materials. Results showed that although parents implemented the tutoring programs as designed, neither tutoring program had a significant effect upon…

Investigated reading achievement and attitudes as a function of grade, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status for 1,968 students in grades K-5 in Georgia. Findings show a small but significant relationship between reading achievement and attitudes toward reading. Ethnic differences were found with respect to reading achievement. (SLD)

Discusses an experiment that links phonological awareness and reading performance in children with Down syndrome. Examines the results within the framework of the author's metalinguistic development theory in which alphabet reading is a pacemaker for the development of explicit phonological awareness. (PM)

The reading achievement of students with learning disabilities (N=24) who received DISTAR instruction was compared to that of similar students using basal reader materials. The overall reading scores were not significantly different following one and two years of instruction, although DISTAR students had somewhat better word attack skills. (DB)

Presents an interview with Jerry L. Johns. Discusses topics related to reading assessment, standardized tests and test-wiseness, the format and content of reading assessment measures, informal reading inventories, and portfolio assessment. (RS)

To investigate the relationship between achievement and intelligence quotient (IQ) in the learning-disabled (LD) population, changes in IQ scores of 49 LD students from early elementary grades to high school grades were correlated with variety of achievement scores. Results suggest that underachievement of LD students plays a predominant causal…

Twenty-seven participants in a Job Training Partnership Act-funded literacy program at Houston Community College received one of three types of computer-assisted instruction (CAI). The longer CAI was used, the higher the posttest reading and mathematics scores. Students with higher skill levels at entry learned faster with CAI systems. (SK)

A longitudinal study compared the progress of 324 10-year-olds from four schools on reading attainments, attitudes, and habits. Two schools were given extra books to supplement their normal stock. Although results indicate important changes in reading attainments, no simple differential gain was identified in relation to attainments or attitudes.…

During the 1986-87 school year, 4,299 handicapped students were given New Jersey's competency test which measures academic achievement in reading, mathematics, and writing. Twelve percent of these students passed the test. There was a variance across student classifications; the math subtest was particularly difficult for the students. (Author/DB)