Research has identified certain comprehension strategies that seem to work in an optimal manner to increase the reading comprehension of K-12 students. However, little evidence exists about whether teachers use identified, research-based strategies when teaching. In view of the critical nature of literacy achievement for diverse populations and…

Examines the Communication Skills Program at Rutgers State University as a model for other college reading programs for improving comprehension and notetaking skills. (RB)

A study was conducted to examine the relationship of reading rate to comprehension on material read with a pacer and without a pacer. Two hundred paired scores were obtained in a college reading and study skills course in which students read both paced and nonpaced material alternately during class time and recorded their rate and comprehension…

Approaches and materials which are used to develop the vocabulary of high risk students at the University of Southern Colorado, an open enrollment university, are described in this paper. A basic skills reading course is required of students scoring below the 22nd percentile on the Cooperative English Test and a developmental reading course is…

Suggests that a directed reading and study skill use of content periodicals as a supplementary aid can produce measurable reading comprehension gains and observable content area enrichment. (JM)

Describes a team effort by an historian and a college reading specialist in which volunteer undergraduate students participated in hopes of improving their history papers. Weekly sessions involved summarizing history assignments. Results indicate the importance of both reading levels and reading styles. (KC)

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 19 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of group counseling on junior high remedial readers' self-concepts; (2) dysnomia and its relationship to subtypes of reading disabilities; (3) the…

The primary purpose for reading is to derive the meaning of an author's message, which has been transmitted through print, as it relates to the reader's personal need to go from a point of lesser to greater information. Within the college reading improvement program, the many purposes surrounding reading should intersect to form the basis for…

Describes a textbook study system designed for math or applied math courses in which students focus on solving problems, consulting the textbook and reading for well-considered purposes. (AEA)

Reviews of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (N-D) for college students indicate that the test may not be appropriate for all college students. Although the N-D is easy to administer and score, some of its traits make it questionable for use in evaluating open admissions students: it is timed; it measures vocabulary, rate, and comprehension in a mere…

Reports an investigation of the effectiveness of "Speedway: The Action Way to Read" in increasing the reading rate and efficiency of adult readers. (FL)

Describes a basic reading course designed to meet the specific needs of the weakest basic writers enrolled in a large midwestern university with an open admissions policy. Shows how the developmental course improved the students' reading comprehension so they could better understand the texts they would encounter in college courses. (SKC)

The effectiveness of an eight week college course for reading/study skills improvement was evaluated by pretesting and posttesting 152 students with the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and the Optimum Reading Achievement Test and running simple correlations between reading rate, comprehension, vocabulary, and 18 variables that included ACT scores, grade…

After research between 1960 and 1977 relating to college reading program effectiveness was identified, a statistical procedure called Meta-Analysis was used to integrate findings and determine any composite benefit of instruction. Of 676 references on the initial list, 66 studies were identified as having quantifiable data within the limits of the…

This paper describes the instructional design and development of a college critical reading course based on a prescriptive and systematic five-step design model derived from instructional psychology. Emphasis is on the first three steps of instructional design: instructional problem analysis, determination of instructional objectives, and…