An eight-stage model was developed for implementing a five-month program of sustained silent reading. Data from 65 intermediate grade classrooms (using individual students as analysis units) revealed no significant differences on standardized and informal measures and no significant interactive effects. The teachers' summative evaluation found the…

Nigerian anthropologist John Ogbu examines the academic failure of minority groups within the context of American society and draws comparisons to minority group education in five other cultures. (MKM)

Achievement and ability of 135 retained elementary school students (grade 6) in Canada were compared with those of 103 matched continually promoted students. Reading comprehension, cognitive ability, and achievement test scores indicate that grade retention is ineffective in improving achievement and ability. (SLD)

Reports a longitudinal study of the link between home variables (mainly maternal support), cognitive prerequisites of preschoolers, and later school achievement (spelling, reading, and arithmetic). Maternal support significantly affected competencies and academic achievement. Cognitive competencies predicted later academic achievement; achievement…

Seventeen Canadian teachers and administrators were interviewed to determine their perspectives on reading education. Forty-two interviews were transcribed and evaluated. Preliminary analysis reveals that assessment as a social-psychological phenomenon is filled with tensions, contradictions, and dilemmas that cannot be solved simply through…

Two experiments tested whether the orthography of readers' first or second language affected their reading time and comprehension in each. English and Hebrew bilingual graduate students and faculty read texts translated into both Hebrew and English. The English native speakers read the English texts significantly faster than the native Hebrew…

This article describes a cross-age peer tutoring program in reading developed and implemented at a special school for students (ages 8-18) with moderate learning difficulties in Ireland. Evaluation studies indicate multiple benefits accruing to both the learners and the helpers including progress in reading, enhanced feelings of self-worth, and…

In developed countries like the United States and Britain, the continuing challenge for educators is to sort through the choices of an all-you-can-eat school system and teach the basic skills. Despite so-called universal education, an alarming number of people still fail to reach even basic levels of literacy. The "literacy hour" was…

Apart from the annual returns to the Ministry of Education of Reading Recovery (RR) data (and to a lesser extent, the four-yearly National Education Monitoring Project cycle data), there is currently no national data sets of reading achievement information for New Zealand primary school children. This article uses the national RR data for 2002 as…

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other Group of Eight (G-8) countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. The report draws on the most current information about education from three primary sources: the Indicators of…

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other Group of Eight (G-8) countries. The G-8 countries--Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States--are among the world's most economically developed countries. Comparative…

An Indonesian study on prereading strategies for reading in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is reported. Three areas were examined: (1) differences in the reading achievement of groups receiving AO ("advance organizer" or meaningful verbal learning, based on the learning theory of David Ausubel) techniques or "Daftar Kata-Kata…

The six articles in this journal deal with various aspects of early reading. The topics covered are: a preschool biliteracy project; early reading as language development; the techniques used in teaching children with normal hearing, hearing impaired children, and deaf children to read; preschool reading and speaking acquisition in two languages;…

The results of the SAT 9 tests administered to Guam students in grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11 have consistently indicated below average academic performance in the subjects of reading, math and language arts over the past decade of testing. To ensure that students attain the necessary skills and knowledge in reading, math, and language arts,…

An experiment which assessed the effects of parental involvement in the teaching of reading showed highly significant gains by children (aged 6 to 9) who received extra practice at home in comparison with control groups but no comparable improvement by children who received extra help at school. (Author/MJL)