Argues that effective instruction for children with reading difficulties relies little on accurate diagnosis. Maintains that standardized reading tests can help identify children with reading problems. Asserts that children with reading difficulties would be better served by more instruction and less diagnosis. (CFR)

Intended to help classroom teachers, curriculum developers, and researchers, this book provides current information on theoretical and instructional aspects of main idea comprehension. Titles and authors are as follows: "The Confused World of Main Idea" (James W. Cunningham and David W. Moore); "The Comprehension of Important…

A study investigated whether semantic feature analysis (SFA) significantly improves the content related vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension of adolescent, learning disabled readers. SFA is a set of vocabulary development activities designed to help students categorize vocabulary words and compare related ideas. Subjects, 62 learning…

A study examined the effects of teachers' use of explicit explanation on students' levels of metacognitive awareness of the reading process and on their reading achievement as measured by a standardized test. Subjects, 22 fifth grade teachers from 13 different elementary schools, were observed by researchers who had been trained in using a…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) cognitive sophistication and story recall in early adolescence, (2) readability as an interactive process, (3) a sustained silent reading program with seventh and eighth grade…