A study examined the possible influence that pets may have on children's reading achievement. Subjects, 61 students from three third-grade classes in an urban school, completed a questionnaire about pet ownership. Responses were compiled and score values established to recognize the length of time the child had owned the pet and how much…

A study compared college students' reading attitude to their achievement in reading comprehension. Subjects, 81 students enrolled in one of three college level reading improvement courses, completed the Mikulecky Behavioral Reading Attitude Measure (MBRAM) and had their scores compared to the results of the reading comprehension test of the New…

Cross-lagged panel analysis was used to explore possible causal relationships between attitude and achievement in mathematics and reading. Measures from 1,758 students from grades two through six were analyzed. Findings are presented and conclusions are drawn. (Author/MT)

The California Achievement Test and Degrees of Reading Power tests were administered to students to determine the relationship between the instruments as measures of reading. It was concluded that either test may be used to make valid predictions to the other by use of locally constructed conversion tables. (Author/DWH)

A review of research examines the relationship between visual perceptual skills and reading achievement using meta-analysis to integrate statistically the results from 161 studies. It was concluded that visual perceptual skills should be included in the complex of factors predictive of reading achievement. (Author)

Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) scores, taken at the kindergarten level were correlated with the acquisition of sight vocabulary and later measures of reading achievement (Stanford Achievement Test scores). Correlation coefficients ranged from .61 to .87. (Author/GK)

The percentage of variance in student achievement that is explained by student SES--"poverty's power rating," as some call it--tends to be less among smaller schools than among larger schools. Smaller schools, we are told, are able to somehow disrupt the association between SES and student achievement. Using eighth-grade data for 215…

Using national survey data, the present study investigated whether adolescents living with parents of their same gender fare better on academic achievement than their peers living with opposite-gender parents. Multiple analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) procedures were employed to examine the effects of the children's gender in single-father and…

This study utilized early reading assessment data from a randomized trial of 210 urban and rural schools in Texas to examine contextual effects on risk prediction in first and second grade. The primary objective was to examine the roles of (a) individual differences, (b) the grade 1 classroom, and (c) the pairing of first and second grade teachers…

The importance of the beliefs and attitudes of teachers and building-level administrators in achieving school reform has come to be widely acknowledged. As University of Wisconsin professor Kent Peterson put it: "You can implement a good-quality improvement plan and knowledgeable, data-driven decision making, but if the [staff] doesn't…

Background: The behavioural and academic performance of young children with teachers' reported hyperactivity, conduct problems or inattention is under debate. Aim: This study investigates the associations between teachers' reported behavioural difficulties and academic and cognitive performances in two large samples of preschool and school…

The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) Third- and fifth-grade pupils' relative knowledge of certain graphemic options used in American-English orthography to represent selected phonemes presented in "new words," i.e., nonsense words, pronounced orally, and (2) the relationships between this knowledge and the pupils' reading and…

Results from testing 20 first graders in a remedial class in Maryland indicated that: same pattern recognition was significantly higher than reverse pattern recognition; identical pattern recognition did not affect performance on reading and arithmetic achievement; reverse pattern recognition significantly affected performance on reading and…

Although literacy skills needed to engage in the economy and public life have grown, the literacy skills of many adolescents remain low. One popular approach to improving student literacy is using school-based reading coaches; however, there is little empirical evidence regarding the nature of coaching and its effectiveness in changing teacher…

Despite recent progress in reading achievement among children in primary grades, many children are not moving beyond basic decoding skills to fluency and comprehension as they go on to higher grades. To address this problem, many policymakers suggest that reading coaches -- master teachers who offer ongoing on-site instructional support for…