This report summarizes Austin Independent School District's (AISD's) Account for Learning evaluation report and action plan for 1999-2002.

Concurrent and predictive validity estimates for scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and Estimated Learning Potential are presented for 396 children (grades one-eight) stratified by racial-ethnic groups (Anglo, Black, Mexican American) and social classes (middle and lower). (Author/PN)

Presents the findings of a recent study on the writing and reading achievement of low SES children. Concludes that there is a need for more emphasis on writing for these children. (JL)

Analyzes research which provides strong evidence indicating higher achievement in vocabulary and mathematics for comparable students in Catholic and other private schools than in public schools. The results are less consistent in reading. The analysis also shows the elements of school policy that can account for these differences. (RM)

Using 418 sixth-graders in Jamaica, sex, family size, birth order, occupational level, father's presence, preference for conceptual style, field dependence, reading achievement, and mental ability were examined in relationship to mathematics achievement. Mental ability, reading achievement, and family size, in that order, were found to predict…

Compares the reading comprehension and accuracy and listening comprehension of West Indian and English children living in England and having equivalent intellectual abilities. Finds no significant differences between the cultural groups. (FL)

Reading instruction and its effects were examined for 105 students in elementary classrooms for the learning disabled. Extensive detailed observations of students, teachers, and instructional material were used to explore the plausibility of a causal model of the effects of reading behaviors and instruction on students' reading performance.…

An extensive case history of instructional environment and acquisition of reading skills by 50 first-grade students in ten classrooms indicates that the rate at which students mastered decoding depended on classroom instruction with direct instruction appearing most profitable for children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. (MKM)

Reports that first grade children in Zaire who used a carefully controlled native language primer (developed to meet a need for up-to-date, relevant primers in Zairean languages) achieved higher reading scores than children who used an old (1952) primer. (GT)

A sample of 176 first-grade children was tested on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests, 1976 Edition (MRT), during the initial month of school and was retested eight months later on the Stanford Achievement Test. Results demonstrated substantial validity of the MRT for predicting first-grade achievement. (Author/CTM)

Discusses two major misconceptions about reading shared by many teachers, students, and parents: reading instruction should take place in the elementary schools, and only those students having problems need help in reading. It offers suggestions for integrating the teaching of reading skills with the teaching of physics content. (SK)

A study involving five fourth-grade behavior problem children with reading failure was designed to replicate an earlier study which demonstrated positive effects of teacher written praise notes as motivating agents for improved performance. (SBH)

Details an investigation of the relative contribution of two dimensions of field dependence-independence to the prediction of specific reading skills for first-grade children in an intensive phonics program and in a basal reader program supplemented with phonics. (FL)