Outcomes for methods to accelerate thinking skills involving some peer interaction have been more consistently positive than those for purely teacher-directed or materials-led methods. However, methods involving mainly or only peer interaction are rare. This paper describes and evaluates such a method for peer tutoring in thinking skills, which…

This new Iowa Kids Count data book, "Iowa Kids Count 2008: Trends in the Well-Being of Iowa Children," is the latest annually produced book containing data on 18 different indicators of child and family well-being for the United States, Iowa and its 99 counties. The 18 indicators provide a wealth of health, education, welfare and…

This study used a longitudinal design to examine the possibility of a causal link between metacognitive knowledge and reading performance across time in a group of grade 2 Australian children (1989 cohort, N=100; 1990 cohort, N=90) with and without learning disabilities. Revaluation between 1 and 2 years later found: no relationship between…

Designed to assess the ability to interpret the major types of figurative language or tropes such as similes, metaphors, proverbs, and personification, the two forms of this instrument each contain 50 items in a two-part, multiple-choice format. Part I tests the meaning of figures of speech in isolation; part II tests the meaning in the context of…

Because current research offers little conclusive evidence that explicit metacognitive knowledge is necessary for effective reading, a study was designed to determine (1) if comprehension could be enhanced by activating subjects' awareness of appropriate strategies, and (2) which strategies, based on subjects' spontaneous reports, were most…

Developmental differences in summaries of expository texts were examined for fourth and sixth grade students in two experiments. Experiment 1 used texts that had a description content structure whereas Experiment 2 texts had a thesis/evidence content structure. Manipulation of the presence or absence of the topic sentence allowed the examination…

Examines the hypothesis that poor readers will have much greater difficulty in recalling abstract words than will normal readers but will closely approximate normal readers in recalling concrete words. The hypothesis was confirmed at the second-grade level but not at the sixth-grade level. (Author/CB)

Eight problems in each of three formats were administered to 854 students in grades three through seven. Readers of high ability chose correct operations more often than low-ability readers. The drawn format was easier than the other two formats; its advantage was greater for low-ability readers than high-ability readers. (MNS)

Reading-related skills were tested in adults with and without reading disabilities (RD) or with profound hearing impairment (PHI). Both RD and PHI groups demonstrated low levels of phonological awareness but the RD group also exhibited deficits in verbal short-term memory, morphological awareness, speeded written naming, reading comprehension, and…

The study compared the effectiveness of Irlen filters and traditional optometric intervention with 30 volunteers (ages 9-51). Pre- and posttesting revealed that subjects in both treatment groups were more comfortable after treatment, that only the vision therapy group showed improved visual functioning, and that the Irlen filter group did not show…

The article reviews three studies (EC 600 064-066) evaluating the effectiveness of using Irlen tinted lenses with reading-disabled persons. The studies are individually critiqued, and recommendations are offered concerning the methodology of further research. Stressed is the need to determine whether a specific syndrome of scotopic sensitivity…

Children (N=110, ages 8 to 10) with either normal or poor reading ability were tested on (1) ability to recall sequences of nonspeech tones presented at various rates, and (2) ability to make phonetic decisions using brief and transitional properties of the speech signal. Results did not support the hypothesis that temporal-processing deficits…

As the first title in the new series, "New Directions in Communication Disorders Research: Integrative Approaches", this volume discusses a unique phenomenon in cognitive science, single-word reading, which is an essential element in successful reading competence. Single-word reading is an interdisciplinary area of research that incorporates…

Since E.L. Thorndike's landmark 1917 study of the complexity of reading comprehension, inferential research has generally focused on either inference as a developmental process or the nature of inferences made during reading. In his 1930 study, R. W. Tyler established that inference could be objectively measured. S. G. Paris conducted several…

Designed to assess the reading and writing skills of preservice and inservice teachers, this criterion referenced test assesses four skills areas following the reading of a selected professional article. The skill areas assessed are the ability to (1) understand the professional vocabulary used in the selection, (2) answer literal level…