One of a series of documents produced by a collaborative curriculum development project in Australia, this book is designed to assist in the improvement of teaching and learning English and to provide a common language for reporting student achievement. The book begins with a chart presenting curricular outcomes. The book is then divided into…

The development of a modified semantic differential measure of school-related attitudes of grades 3-6 children is described and its validation involving 99 children is reported. Each of the four scales of this measure, Attitude Toward-School, -Language Arts, -Teachers, and -Arithmetic, was found to be unidimensional. Internal consistency estimates…

A study examined reading performance, metacognitive knowledge about reading, awareness of the conventions about print, perceptions of reading ability, and causal attributions for success and failure in reading of children with reading difficulties in Year 2 in Australia. One hundred children from the Brisbane region were involved in the…

From l979 to l985, data were gathered from approximately 600 students in 24 Dutch elementary schools to determine changes occurring in the interrelationships among the reading skill components of decoding, reading comprehension, and spelling ability. Information for each student was obtained from reading performance test scores recorded at the end…

The teacher handbook for Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) in Reading presents an overall description of these survey tests in reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge for school years 3 to 9. There are two alternative forms of each test: (1) the Reading Comprehension tests are designed to measure two major aspects of reading skills…

The 11 papers presented in these proceedings focus on the general theme, "Factors Other Than Teaching That Influence Reading Achievement." The following topics are covered: (1) the relationship between culture and reading achievement, (2) the influence of language on reading, (3) levels of cultural knowledge and self-esteem of intermediate grade…

Noting that reading development is a crucial factor in breaking down social, intellectual, and political barriers, this paper uses Nigeria as an example of a developing multilingual country in order to examine the problems and challenges that learners and educators in multilingual societies face. The discussion is focused on children at the…

Using data collected by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), the authors of this study examined the reading achievement of 14-year-old boys in India and England. They sought to determine the factors involved in the academic achievement of these boys in the natural sciences. Factors studied, in addition…

This paper reports a technique for classroom observation of children's activities considered relevant to the acquisition of reading. It is part of a larger study conducted by the University of Bristol called the "Children Learning to Read" Project, an attempt to study the learning experiences of individual children as they occur in a…

Improvements in reading and oral language achievement by disadvantaged elementary-age students in England are reported in connection with a program of parental involvement in the classroom. A reading-at-home program, a neighborhood center for parents of preschoolers, and other collaborative school-parent-community activities are also described.…

Using a fifth-grade sample, the revised Self Description Questionnaire was investigated. Confirmatory factor analysis showed the factor structure invariant across the respondants' gender. Sex difference in self-concept areas and academic achievement were explored. A new internal/external frame of reference model was proposed. (Author/BS)

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an assessment of reading comprehension of nine-year-olds in 35 countries and was conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). This report compares findings from the United States with other countries and takes a closer look at…

The longitudinal New Zealand project "Competent Children" has two objectives: to describe and analyze variations and changes in children's cognitive, social, communicative and problem-solving competencies from the time they begin school at the age of five; and to determine what impact children's early childhood education experiences,…

A study of adolescents in Hong Kong suggested that parents' behavior toward their children did affect children's achievement in reading and other verbal skills. A more democratic style of child rearing correlated with the development of good reading abilities. (MKM)

Describes study conducted in England, Scotland, and Wales based on a national sample of 11-year-olds that investigated the relationship between large verbal and non-verbal differences in ability and underachievement in mathematics and reading. Sex differences are also examined and further research needs are suggested. (14 references) (LRW)