A three-phase study was conducted in Alberta, Canada, to determine factors influencing reading achievement and specifically to assess the effects of television viewing on reading achievement. In the first phase, 453 people responded to a survey regarding which factors they felt were important in influencing reading achievement. It was concluded…

A study was conducted using standard open-ended cloze testing to establish a criterion for the utility of content reading passages for students in grades four, seven, and ten in the subject areas of language arts and social studies. Passages were selected from books, novels, and textbooks required in these courses. It was found that most of the…

The 1976 reading achievement scores of year 5 pupils in Queensland (Australia) primary schools were compared with the scores of year 5 pupils in 1971, using Reading Test QR5. The sample included 1,754 students in 111 primary schools. Analysis of the results showed that scores for vocabulary development, comprehension of implied meaning, and…

A longitudinal study of reading difficulties in schools in the county of Dunbarton, Scotland, was conducted in 1966. More than 1,500 children were tested after they had completed two years at school and were just over seven years of age. Important results included: about 15% of the children were without any independent reading skill, boys were…

Surveys of literacy attainment have been going on in the United Kingdom since 1948. The main finding is that literacy standards have changed very little in that time. Among 8-year-olds (children in Year 3) in England and Wales, however, standards fell slightly in the late 1980s, and then recovered in the early 1990s. The few international…

Research into professional decisionmaking indicates that judgments tend not to be made on a rational, systematic basis, but are often formed rapidly and intuitively, from a limited set of cues. This study addresses the issue of if and how teachers assess the literacy competencies of young children prior to starting formal schooling. Seven…

First Steps is a program instituted by the Western Australia Ministry of Education to improve the literacy and numeracy of primary school students, particularly those at risk of academic failure. First Steps is organized around reading, writing, spelling, and oral language; children's skills are organized along developmental continua. These…

The Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ), a multidimensional instrument designed to measure seven facets of self-concept hypothesized in Shavelson's hierarchical model was administered to fifth- and sixth-grade students. Teachers also evaluated each student's self-concept along the same dimensions. There was substantial student-teacher agreement…

Reports on a longitudinal study of Finnish student development in literacy skills, especially reading skills. Notes that children from the rural northern areas gained most in test-intelligence and literacy skills, catching up with their coevals from the southern and urban areas. (RL)

The effect of reading difficulties and antisocial behavior on peer rejection and popularity was studied with 198 lower-class boys, grades 1 and 2. Poor readers who were stable and conformed to classroom requirements were no more rejected than good readers who conformed; however, they were less popular. (Author/CP)

Discusses the importance of the home setting for the development of literacy. The article focuses on a pilot study employing homelike interactive models in classroom settings. Results reveal that pupils of low socioeconomic status in an experimental group, who were exposed systematically to series books in English, had higher reading comprehension…

Results of a cued-recall test taken by 152 Dutch fourth and sixth graders indicate that children who watch a children's news show on television recall more than those who read the same news in print regardless of reading proficiency or expectation of a memory test. (SLD)

The seven articles of this special issue comment on the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Assessment Reading Literacy Study conducted from 1989 to 1991 in 31 countries. Project design and test instruments are reviewed, and results from the Nordic countries are presented and explored. (SLD)

An eight-year cross-sectional study analyzed the self-esteem and both mathematics and reading attainments of eight cohorts of Year 2 and Year 6 children from five randomly selected primary schools within one Local Education Authority. Presents the results. Addresses the possible link between national testing and self-esteem. (CMK)

This study examined gender differences in students' scientific literacy as measured by OECD-PISA. In particular, we focused on the 2437 students from 140 Hong Kong schools. Hong Kong boys' and girls' science scores did not differ overall. However, boys scored higher than girls at the higher percentiles (75th and above). Moreover, specific test…