A diagnostic testing system managed by microcomputer was evaluated in actual use at the upper elementary level. Two tests specifically designed to yield diagnostic indicators of erroneous performance were utilized, one a test of pronoun usage, the other a test of reading comprehension. The results are interpreted from the standpoint of the…

A culture of testing permeates schools. Many teachers cannot separate instruction/instructional improvement from outcome measures designed for accountability. The article discusses the effects of standardized testing and examines a study of teachers' beliefs and practices concerning reading comprehension instruction that indicates accountability…

Examines the cognitively high-level text processing, or macro-processing, of expository passages. Investigates reading comprehension during the sixth and ninth school years. Finds that girls outperformed boys regardless of the comprehension measure and also finds that performance on both measures, but particularly on hierarchy-rating, correlated…

This study examined format differences in the measurement of fifth grade students' reading comprehension achievement. Children were given a multiple-choice reading comprehension test, followed 4 weeks later by a constructed response test on 2 of the same text passages. Results indicated that little comprehension of text content was transferred…

This study investigated the effect of extended-time limits in terms of performance levels and score comparability for reading comprehension scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). The first part of the study compared the average reading comprehension scores on the ITBS of 61 sixth-graders with learning disabilities and 397 non learning…

The relationship between geographic mobility and pupil achievement in reading was investigated for a sample of 2,072 sixth-grade children. A three-way analysis of variance design provided for the study of three levels of mobility when boys and girls were grouped into three levels of ability. Two additional covariates were employed to cause the…

The Helping Hands Project (HHP) is a program that aims at improving achievement in reading comprehension and in math problem-solving by helping the classroom teacher sustain instructional intensity. Implemented in grades four and six in two Newark School District elementary schools, HHP involved five teachers and 117 students. Ninety-two percent…

This report describes a program designed to increase students' knowledge in the science content area utilizing reading comprehension strategies. The targeted population consisted of grade 6 middle school students in a growing urban community in eastern Iowa. The students demonstrated poor comprehension of their science textbook. Data also revealed…

To determine whether the addition of study skills in the teaching of social studies would improve the learning of social studies content, a study was conducted comparing two fifth grade classes in social studies for a period of nine weeks. One fifth grade group of 15 students was the control group and the other fifth grade group of 17 was the…

Experiments with 12 sixth-grade students doing mathematics assignments and 9 students doing reading assignments under differing conditions of radio and television distraction indicate no sizable distractor effects on time studying, accuracy of computation or reading comprehension, and reading rate. Results are consistent with the conceptualization…

This study investigated the effect of the study skill strategies of concept mapping and cooperative learning on students' academic achievement. Forty fifth grade students were placed in three groups: (1) cooperative concept mapping groups (N=9--3 students in each of 3 small groups); (2) a standard concept mapping group (N=11); and (3) a control…

The reading and mathematics objectives of the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Tests for Grade 4 are described. In reading, objectives are defined for: (1) literal comprehension, the understanding of information explicitly stated in the materials; (2) inferential comprehension, the understanding of information not literally expressed; and (3) problem…

Summer school is thought to be an effective alternative delivery mode for Chapter 1 education. The effectiveness of summer Chapter 1 programs was studied during Fall 1993 in 68 Chicago (Illinois) public schools. Students who had been in fourth grade in 1991-92 were divided into a group that had received Chapter 1 help during the school year and…

This study examined whether graphic organizer instruction would facilitate comprehension, recall, and information transfer, and how much explicit instruction was necessary for independent generation of graphic organizers. Fifth graders read social studies information with or without graphic organizers and explicit instruction. Explicitness and…

Recent research shows that at-risk young people involved in well-planned and supervised peer-tutoring situations improve their grade point averages, literacy and study skills, reading comprehension, ability to identify long-range goals, and self-confidence. This article describes a high school peer-tutoring program applicable to middle school…