Previous studies have paid considerable attention to the impact on a child's primary education of attending pre-primary school. Researchers have asserted that early educational intervention can compensate for the effects of poverty and inadequate learning environments on child development and school success. This study analyzes the relationship…

This brief provides a policy perspective into the recent NWEA research on how COVID-19 has affected student learning. It builds on previous research showing achievement levels stalling over the 2022-23 school year from the previous year. This analysis on student learning from grades 3-8 shows that academic recovery has stalled for older learners…

This article highlights the rationale for Namibia's participation in three studies which were conducted under the auspices of the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) during the period 1995-2007. The article provides some of the innovative ways in which the results of the first (SACMEQ I, 1995) and…

In this study the authors employed a multilevel analysis procedure in order to examine the pupil and school levels factors that contributed to variation in reading achievement among Grade 6 primary school pupils in 14 southern African school systems (Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa,…

Not too long ago, on a visit to two sixth-grade classrooms, the author saw very clearly the challenge teachers have before them when they try to differentiate reading. In both classrooms, 11-year-olds who read like fourth graders shared tables with classmates who read like the average ninth grader--a five-year span. How teachers approach this…

A longitudinal evaluation of the utility of a screening battery administered in kindergarten is shown to retain a high utility for predicting current achievement outcomes of the sample at the end of grade six. The use of discriminant functional analysis and statistical decision theory is discussed. (Author/CM)

Concludes that there is a strong positive relationship between an elementary school's organizational climate (whether the school is "open" or "closed") and student reading performance, with achievement being greater in the more open schools. (FL)

Presents the results of a research study which was designed to determine gains or losses in reading proficiency during summer vacation, investigate the characteristics of those students whose proficiency increases or decreases, and aid in planning summer reading programs which maximize gains and minimize losses. (RB)

Indicates that male teachers had no significant effect upon the reading achievement of 193 sixth-grade boys and suggests pursuing other strategies to help such boys improve their reading achievement scores. (RL)

This study explores the relationship between reading attitudes, self-perceptions and reading achievement among second and sixth graders. The sample consisted of 84 second graders (39 females, 45 males) and 71 sixth graders (32 females, 39 males). Participants responded to the Estes Attitude Scales for reading, math and science and the "About…

This study reports the findings of a 1971 assessment of the reading achievement of 22,000 sixth grade students in Texas. The study used the Prescriptive Reading Test (PRT) and a Pupil Identification Form (PID). Results from the PRT are reported in terms of the percentage of pupils who achieved each of 48 reading objectives. Nineteen objectives…

Examines the hypothesis that poor readers will have much greater difficulty in recalling abstract words than will normal readers but will closely approximate normal readers in recalling concrete words. The hypothesis was confirmed at the second-grade level but not at the sixth-grade level. (Author/CB)

Researches a basal reading and a language arts method of teaching reading, advancing the possibility of using reading readiness instead of intelligence tests to predict later reading achievement. (RB)

Compares sixth-graders' math and reading achievement at year-round and traditional schools in the same (Ohio) school district. Uses a randomized, control-group, posttest-only method controlling for the effects of history maturation and pretesting. The statistical and practical results favor the alternative year-round calendar, particularly when…

Presents the results of a study of sex differences in reading achievement in four English-speaking nations, concluding that sex differences in reading ability as measured by tests may be related to cultural factors. (RB)