This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. Among the topics dealt with in the 22 titles are the following: (1) the influence on reading ability and behavior of instructional objectives, the answering of self-generated questions, writing in the expressive mode, instruction in…

The effects of student socioeconomic status (SES) and four teacher behaviors--teacher structure, teacher affect, cognitive level of questions, and group size--on student reading achievement were analyzed. Subjects were 36 fifth and sixth grade classroom teachers and their 820 students. Data were collected with the Reading Comprehension Subtest…

As a companion project to the Edmonton Grade III Achievement: 1956-1977 Comparisons, this study had two purposes: to establish benchmarks of basic skills achievement and to compare the achievement of various subgroups. Third grade students in Alberta were administered the Gates MacGinitie Reading Tests--Vocabulary and Comprehension, and the…

The Oklahoma Educational Status Study was conducted to determine student achievement in reading and mathematics. A stratified random sampling of students in grades 3, 6, and 9, were administered the mathematics and reading subtests of the California Achievement Tests (CAT); twelfth grade students were administered only a criterion-referenced test,…

The first half of this report is concerned with the measurement of student achievement in reading comprehension. Following the introduction there is a brief critique of standardized, norm-referenced tests of student performance in reading. It is argued that school districts need tests that are sensitive to instructional treatments rather than more…

Project HEED (Heed Ethnic Educational Depolarization) involves over 1,000 Indian children in grades 1-8 in Arizona. The project target sites are 48 classrooms at Sells, Topowa, San Carlos, Many Farms, Hotevilla, Peach Springs, and Sacaton. Objectives are to increase: (1) reading achievement, (2) affective behavior of teachers, (3) motivation by…

This report investigates how inner-city schools are performing on the academic goals and standards set by the states for children, examining district-by-district achievement data in math and reading through spring 2002. It also measures achievement gaps between cities and states, African American and Whites, and Hispanics and Whites; presents new…

Research was undertaken to examine the effects of a critical mass policy (concentrating funds) on student achievement in compensatory education programs in California. No consistent, positive relationship was found between the level or composition of educational resources and achievement test scores in reading and mathematics. (MH)

Supporters believe that the flexibility granted these new public schools allows them to be more innovative and responsive to student needs than traditional public schools are. But do students in charter schools learn more than their counterparts in traditional public schools? In order to answer this question, the authors have analyzed established…

Measures of Chinese character recognition, vocabulary, and interest in reading were administered to 92 second grade children in Hong Kong, while questionnaires on parental literacy practices were administered to their parents. In a hierarchical regression equation, maternal education, children's age and vocabulary skill predicted 18% of the…

Education aims to enable students not only to acquire knowledge but also to become capable and enthusiastic lifelong learners. Prior research has found that learning is more likely to be effective where a student plays a proactive role in the learning process. Such a proactive process, including learning on students' own initiative and strategies,…

This paper examines reading achievement when the maternal/paternal language has become a de facto second language. The performance of a cohort of Greek-Australian high school students (N = 270) on a diagnostic Greek reading test was significantly below that of pupils in second to fourth grades in Greece. The mean item difficulty for…

Teachers conducting a thematically organized literature-based reading program centered around student-led discussion groups wanted to explore ways in which the values they wanted to promote could be reflected in the ways they assessed their students. This study considers how valuing a broader scope of language and literacy abilities and making…

Measuring students' progress toward higher achievement has been the purpose of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) since its inception in 1969. Students in public and nonpublic schools have been assessed in various subject areas on a regular basis, and the NAEP has also collected information about background variables that…

This booklet focuses on the reading literacy test scores of students in the grade levels where most 9- and 14-year-olds were to be found in 32 national systems of education. Data were collected from 9,073 schools, 10,518 teachers, and 210,059 students. The booklet describes the achievement levels of carefully selected probability samples of…