This study looks at preservice teachers' attitudes toward children and teaching in an urban high-poverty community in relation to their involvement in two different literacy education experiences: one literacy course sequence addressed issues of cultural diversity with respect to this community, and the other did not explicitly address these…

This report lays out the design for the Evaluation of Reading Comprehension Interventions, which is assessing supplemental reading comprehension programs for fifth-grade students in Title I schools. The key design parameters are described. The report itself provides the rationale for these decisions and discusses design and measurement issues,…

Increasingly, elementary schools across America are adopting prereferral intervention models that follow a structured problem-solving consultation process to reduce referrals to special education and to improve student academic outcomes. One feasible and affordable systems-level solution for a school that must deliver reading interventions of high…

As part of the Michigan Adult Education Inquiry Project III, five adult education practitioners from five metropolitan school districts researched the use of the Cloze procedure in determining the readability of the Michigan High School Proficiency Test for students in alternative or adult education. The Cloze is an assessment designed to take a…

A study determined if a paired reading program had an effect on reading achievement and reading attitude of a selected group of 10 third graders. Student pairing was based on the results of a Student Attitude Survey which was one component of portfolio assessment. Within the survey, "at-risk" readers identified "more able"…

A reading comprehension program was developed and implemented that addressed the needs of sixth-grade students. The program focused on critical thinking skills using a teamwork approach. Each heterogeneous small group used a checklist composed of before, during, and after reading questions and activities. At the conclusion of the 12-week…

Designed to differentiate preservice and inservice teachers according to their theoretical orientation to reading, the TORP consists of 28 items reflecting practices and beliefs about reading instruction. The items, which require a Likert-type response, fall into three categories: phonics (smaller than word emphasis), skills (whole words with…

This study conducted in a midwestern city, addressed problems experienced by learning disabled (LD) students in recalling specialized science and social studies vocabulary. This apparent problem was confirmed by a teacher questionnaire and analyses of types and frequency of test errors on recent exams. Students appeared unfamiliar with memory…

Project Literacy United States (PLUS) is a national service project initiated in December 1985 with the key goals of mobilizing and organizing community resources to deal with illiteracy on a local level and to raise awareness of the widespread illiteracy problem. Using concepts from the Navy's intensive reading immersion program, Memphis-Project…

Intended to help provide breadth to a reading program, this handbook emphasizes that reading is learned and reinforced through the use of the other language skills: listening, speaking, and writing. The first section relates to key instructional components of effective reading programs and includes divisions dealing with skill development…

The intent of this evaluation report is to provide information obtained from a study of the Success in Reading and Writing Program pilot project initiated in the Washington, D. C. public schools in 1978-79. The first chapter of the report describes the Success in Reading and Writing Program, its goals and objectives, and the pilot project; states…

Designed to measure the normal development of several of the elemental skills which children must acquire if they are to become skilled readers, this study involved the design and testing of batteries of tests to measure the various reading subskills identified. The battery consists of the following tests: visual, auditory, audiovisual,…

Describes the Group Comprehension Matrix and the Individual Comprehension Matrix, assessment instruments that teachers can use to help them make student placement decisions. (FL)

Suggests the growing use of computers to process information in today's world increases the human need for an interactive competency in writing and reading. The integration of instruction in reading and writing, particularly through use of word processors, is discussed as a way to strengthen this interaction. (MBR)

This study is an examination of animal-assisted therapy in an attempt to explore the ways it may serve as reading intervention program for struggling readers. Due to the low rate of literacy in the U.S., children are often put into reading intervention programs where they are required to read to an adult; potentially creating anxiety that may act…