A total of 42 kindergartners and 42 first graders received either metalevel or skill and drill instruction in phonemic awareness for 10 weeks. Results supported evidence that phonemic awareness is related to reading achievement. The metalevel form of instruction was strongly related to improvement in reading ability of first graders. (SH)

Presents a review of the resources, conclusions, and limitations of the data on trends in reading ability in America between 1840 and 1990. Shows that, contrary to popular belief, today's students read better than yesterday's. (SR)

Investigates what skills are best able to account for orthographic analogy use during early reading and tests the finding that there is no independent association between reading ability and orthographic analogy use. Suggests that phonemic awareness and reading experience best account for analogy use, while orthographic analogy use contributes to…

This study presents a longitudinal examination of the development of reading and reading-related skills of 22 Grade 4 children identified as having reading disabilities (RD) who had been followed since kindergarten. The analyses were conducted to investigate the patterns of emergence of RD as well as reading ability and risk status across the 5…

The authors compared the achievement of children who were enrolled in full-day kindergarten (FDK) to a matched sample of students who were enrolled in half-day kindergarten (HDK) on mathematics and reading achievement in Grades 2, 3, and 4, several years after they left kindergarten. Results showed that FDK students demonstrated significantly…

The study examines the reading attitudes and attainment of Hong Kong, Singapore and English primary-school students using data collected in the PIRLS 2001 international reading survey. A total of 13,486 students aged 9-10 years were assessed. Singaporean students were found to have more positive reading attitudes and confidence than Hong Kong and…

This study determined how children develop reading ability in first and second grade. Subjects, approximately 315 children from 3 school districts in the midwest, were given a series of standardized and customized measures of reading comprehension. Linear structural models were developed at both grade levels using LISREL to explain variance in…

The comparative achievement effects of three types of worksheets across reading ability was investigated in fifth grade students of varying reading ability. Based on reading achievement scores, the students were divided equally into three levels (high, middle, and low) and assigned to worksheet treatment groups. The worksheets were designed to…

The Reading Comprehension and Spelling subtests of the Stanford Achievement Test were administered to 170 eighth grade students to test four null hypotheses about the differences between reading ability, spelling ability, and phonic generalization spelling errors. In addition, a specially constructed Phonics Generalization Spelling Test was…

A study was conducted to develop and test the empirical validity of a middle-range theory designed to explain and predict the relationship between speech communication egocentrism and reading achievement. The theory predicts an inverse relationship between elementary school children's levels of speech communication egocentrism and reading…

The purposes of this study were to determine to what extent students' expectancies, as measured by students' predictions, related to test performance; to determine if taking the test would alter or influence students' expectations and the accuracy of their predictions; and to determine if students' expectations could be altered by a report…

There is mixed evidence regarding the ability of students to retain reading ability over long, non-instructional periods such as the summer recess. In some instances there are significant losses in reading ability, while in other cases the losses fail to reach significance. However, in some cases, such as with basic visual discrimination tasks,…

This paper discusses the results of a literature study concerning the investigation of models of reading and theories of learning to read, method comparison research, and research on teacher effectiveness. It relates the findings of these studies to a study of teaching behavior in the process of teaching children to read. This latter study…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the assessment of intelligence as it relates to reading. Its primary focus is upon criteria that might be applied to the information about intelligence and how it relates to reading. The contents include: "General Considerations," which discusses the concept of intelligence, measuring instruments…