Finds support for the efficacy of a direct instruction paradigm for teaching children reading comprehension skills. (FL)

Examines how dimensions of reading motivation related to students' reading activity and achievement. Finds that the strength of the relations between reading motivation and reading achievement was greater for girls and for white students. Demonstrates that reading motivation is multidimensional and should be regarded as such in research and in…

Relates research done with three strategies to create "text-based interest" (how interesting a text is) in order to improve children's recall of expository texts used in schools. While some of the strategies increased subjective interest, none significantly improved recall. (SR)

Reveals high awareness of comparison/contrast structure and low awareness of causation structure. Supports the hypothesis that structure-aware students are more likely to use a structural strategy when reading than unaware students. Reveals that sixth graders have some text structure knowledge and may be promising candidates for instruction in how…

Investigates whether the use of the computer to mediate text affects reading comprehension and concludes that computer-mediated text can influence reading comprehension and that comprehension was most consistently increased when manipulations of the text were under computer control. (HOD)

Investigates effects of text coherence and active engagement on students' comprehension of textbook information. Finds a continuum of increased performance from original silent text, to original text with thinking aloud, to revised text read silently, and finally revised text with thinking aloud. (SR)

Compares two methods of instructing sixth grade students to use the organization of ideas in content reading as a framework for studying (map-construction and map-study procedures) with two control study methods that did not focus students' attention on text organization (question-answering and rereading procedures). Shows students benefit from…

Indicates that students who received direct instruction performed significantly better than students trained in inquiry on the analogy task and control subjects on the comprehension task. Gifted students consistently outperformed nongifted students on all measures, and tutored students performed comparably to students trained by the investigators.…

Examines the effect of prior knowledge activation on sixth-grade readers' comprehension of compatible and incompatible text. Results support the notion that prior knowledge may intefer with, rather than facilitate, reading comprehension under certain conditions. (HOD)

Reveals that the reading performance and dispositions towards reading of three adolescent readers (a successful, a moderately successful, and a struggling reader) observed in day-to-day classroom reading over five months varied according to the context of their reading, the materials they read, and their reading purpose. None, however, could be…

Investigates reading preferences of an ethnically and economically diverse group of sixth-grade students from three middle schools. Shows that light materials (scary series books, comics, and magazines) top the list for every sub-group of students. Finds very limited availability of preferred materials in school; and shows that most students…

Reports a study indicating that summarization training of sixth-grade students improved recall of major but not minor information on a studying task and that such training is an effective tool for improving reading and studying skills. Includes ways to improve summarization instruction for children of this age group. (HTH)

Using sixth-grade students, a study examines (1) relationships between background knowledge and passage comprehension, (2) relative usefulness of certain variations in measuring available knowledge, (3) value of a background measure as applied to a teacher-directed small group prereading language and concept organizer activity, and (4) effect of a…

Reports the results of a screening test used to identify fifth and sixth grade students who employ a text processing strategy based on an inaccurately constructed hypothesis about the material being read. (FL)

Examines the story comprehension patterns of good and poor sixth-grade readers across four modality combinations for input and output: listening-oral recall, reading-oral recall, listening-written recall, and reading-written recall. (HOD)