Reading comprehension is an important skill throughout all stages of education. However, Portuguese pupils still demonstrate difficulties in understanding what they read. In addition to cognitive and psychological factors, it is important to understand how this skill is addressed in textbooks. Here, we examined how reading comprehension is…

This research investigated the cognitive demands of reading curricula from 1910 to 2000. We considered both the nature of the text used and the comprehension tasks asked of students in determining the cognitive demands of the curricula. Contrary to the common assumption of a trend of simplification of the texts and comprehension tasks in third-…

The widely adopted Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call for raising the level of text complexity in textbooks and reading materials used by students across all grade levels in the United States; the authors of the English Language Arts component of the CCSS build their case for higher complexity in part upon a research base they say shows a…

As students make the transition from learning to read to reading to learn, they find themselves increasingly isolated (Fang 2008; Guthrie and Davis 2003). Gone are the picture books and read alouds of their elementary years; instead, they are faced with dense nonfiction texts and the direction to read and learn the facts. In addition, many science…

This study determined what levels of thinking were included in Christian publishers' elementary reading textbooks and if there was a statistically significant difference between the levels of thinking in different textbooks. A proportional random sample of reading comprehension questions was drawn from the fifth grade teacher's editions of reading…

Middle school science teachers report using textbooks regularly although these textbooks have been criticized for not following standards-based principles for concept learning, and student reading achievement has been stagnant for 20 years. Effective strategic reading instruction has been documented for middle school students but few teachers use…

This textbook is a sixth-year reader in a series of readers prepared for the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, now recognized as the crucial years in gaining technique in silent reading. The series objective is to direct silent reading, to motivate oral reading, to develop the reading habit, and to broaden the child's outlook on life. In their…

This textbook is a sixth-year reader. The pupil who is in his sixth year at school should be able to read quite well. He is now prepared to devote more and more attention to literary criticism. The selections in this book are of a highly interesting character and illustrate almost every variety of English composition. To assist in their…

The purpose of this "Sixth Reader" is to provide, for both oral and silent reading, an abundance of matter that is of fine literary quality and at the same time is fresh and well adapted to the pupils' powers of understanding and appreciation. The suggestions for study at the back of the book are designed to give information a thoughtful…

This textbook is a teacher's manual for The Boys' and Girls' Readers series. Attention is directed to the following features of this intermediate series: To widen the experiences of boys and girls, a rich and varied content is furnished in the readers, organized according to dominating fields of thought; and to provide a truly efficient working…

Too many middle school students struggle to comprehend their textbooks in science and other content areas. Thus, many adolescent learners lag behind in developing scientific literacy, which the National Research Council has defined as sufficient understanding of the scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making,…

In the "PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) 2006 Encyclopedia," each participating country, 39 in total, describes its education system and the reading curriculum as it is intended to be taught, and outlines the polices and practices that guide reading instruction and teacher education. This in-depth, qualitative…