This study investigated the relationship between the number of days spent in an elementary classroom and the reading achievement scores of pupils. Pupils attending a four-quarter, public elementary school for 200 days a year, kindergarten through sixth grade, were compared in reading with pupils attending school for 175 days per year; scores for a…

In this address, the author examines the complex scope of reading achievement, instruction, and research in the United States. The discussion begins with a historical perspective, continues with views of the development of reading as a science and as a profession, and concludes with a discussion of current and future developments in the reading…

A study investigated the relationship between the amount students read and reading achievement. Subjects, 2,185 first- through eighth-grade students enrolled in a Chapter 1 program during the 1990-91 school year in a large southeastern school district, kept reading logs. Teachers informally assessed comprehension of each text read, and they…

The hypothesis of this study was that reading rate would be relatively constant (within a 15% range of the subject's mean reading rate) both within and across different difficulty levels of materials as long as the levels of difficulty remained at or below the subject's ability level. The subjects were 65 college students whose reading levels…

This paper argues that the first step in research aimed at identifying what constitutes the effective reading teacher should be the establishment of criteria which deals with effectiveness. A conceptual model is presented which could be used to identify the effective teacher. The focal point of the model is that effective reading instruction…

This paper discusses the role of the affective realm in the reading process. Its purposes are to provide some basic information about self-concept and to emphasize the prominent position which self-concept should occupy in teaching. The contents include a discussion of what self-concept is, of how self-concept is developed, and of the relationship…

The Fact and Fiction Research Project, funded by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) and based at the School of Education, University of Southampton (England), completed a 2-year study into gender and reading in the 7-9 age group. The project, designed to address boys' underachievement in English by reviewing their development as…

A study examined the relationship among temporal processing, phonological processing, and reading skill using a multivariate approach which included measures of phonological processing and a variety of timing tasks that have been implicated in timing theories. Subjects were 30 adults classified as disabled readers based on their performance on the…

Incentive programs in the form of token economies (the granting of points or counters which can later be exchanged for tangible rewards such as free time, listening to records, or candy) are widely used in schools today. The Pizza Hut restaurant chain promotes a motivation plan called "Book It" with free pizza as the reward for increased…

A study examined: (1) whether a relationship exists between self-concept relating to reading and reading performance of school children in grades three and four; and (2) whether it is possible to identify the four types of self-concept proposed by M. Levesque and derived from Staats Paradigmatic Behaviorism (positive-realistic,…

This study investigated the directionality of the relationship between self-esteem and reading achievement in 286 students in Lynchburg, Virginia. During the first year of the three-year study, subjects were fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and the SRA Achievement Series subscales were administered; sex and…

Samples of third- and sixth-grade teachers were classified as associated with students of high or low achievement in reading. Significant differences between grade levels were found in responses to a survey of teacher emphases in reading instruction. There were no significant differences in emphases for teachers of high- or low-achieving students.…

Besides phonological information, printed words also contain visual, semantic, orthographic and often also syntactic cues. Skilled readers have acquired the command of this variety of cues incidentally, as a consequence of language development. Two naming task experiments assessed the effect of congruent versus incongruent phonological or…

In order to assess relationships and problems in drawing conclusions regarding productive school practices, a study analyzed the 1984 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data on homework and reading achievement among 13-year-olds. A previous study (Lange, 1987) examining the NAEP data set concluded that the number of hours spent on…

Reading achievement of students in second to sixth grade in three school districts participating in a performance-contracting program was tested, using the Stanford Achievement Test and the Metropolitan Achievement Test, at the beginning and the end of the school year. The performance contract for each of the districts included a…