Socioemotional constructs have been receiving increased attention as contributors to individuals' literacy development. However, in comparison with positive socioemotional constructs, negative socioemotional constructs have been understudied with respect to their role in reading achievement in both emergent bilinguals (EBs) and English…

This study explores whether teacher reports of executive functions predict change in reading performance (i.e., reading development) for elementary-aged students when controlling for direct assessments of executive functions and for teacher reports of students' literacy skills. Prior research has raised problems with the construct validity of…

Although literacy achievement has improved in Chile, adolescents' underperformance in reading comprehension is still a serious concern. In English, core academic-language skills (CALS) have been found to significantly predict reading comprehension, even controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge. CALS are high-utility language skills that…

Examines how dimensions of reading motivation related to students' reading activity and achievement. Finds that the strength of the relations between reading motivation and reading achievement was greater for girls and for white students. Demonstrates that reading motivation is multidimensional and should be regarded as such in research and in…

Investigates the phenomenon of topic shift (sentences initiating a new topic are given additional processing time by skilled readers). Finds adults showed a proportionately greater effect than fifth graders when more difficult expository texts were used but not with easy narratives. Finds that paragraph marking did not influence the processing of…

A study investigated the singular and combined effectiveness of phrasing and repeated readings (practice) on the recall of idea units and narrative categories of fifth grade good and poor readers, concluding that practice rather than phrasing proved to have the most facilitating effect on poor readers' recall of idea units but not narrative…

Gaps in reading performance between Anglo and Latino children are associated with gaps in vocabulary knowledge. An intervention was designed to enhance fifth graders' academic vocabulary. The meanings of academically useful words were taught together with strategies for using information from context, from morphology, from knowledge about multiple…

Investigates the relationship of out-of-school activities to reading achievement. Finds a wide variation between children in amount of out-of-school reading. Concludes that reading books was the out-of-school activity that had the strongest association with reading proficiency, but that on most days most subjects did little or no book reading. (MM)

Identifies factors that influence the English reading test performance of Hispanic children as compared with Anglo children in the same fifth and sixth grade classrooms. Suggests that Hispanic students' reading test scores seriously underestimate their reading comprehension potential. Discusses factors that adversely affect their test performance.…

Examines the relationship between children's reading performance and their use of cohesion in writing. Finds that good readers achieved significantly more complex cohesive harmony in their writing than poor readers, who made significantly more inappropriate use of cohesive devices. Concludes that knowledge of cohesion is related to children's…