As part of a study of the basic skills of secondary level education students, a study of prospective teachers' reading ability was conducted at Pennsylvania State University. Subjects were 47 students in secondary education. Two separate assessments of reading were used, the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and a criterion referenced test of reading…

This report evaluates a program designed to increase the reading ability of disadvantaged elementary school students in New York City. Three hundred twenty-five students, grades three through six, from three Harlem elementary schools were enrolled in the program on the basis of being at least a year below their expected reading levels. The…

This study investigated whether summer vacation accounts for more of the reading achievement gap between minority and non-minority children than does the school year. To test for the summer effect, the reading subtests of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills were administered to approximately 1,200 fifth-grade children in 15 public schools in…

This study describes certain characteristics of early readers, with emphasis on their accomplishments on eight Piagetian tasks. The early readers were defined as those children who were between four and six years old, who could read at the pre-primer level or higher, and who had not attended elementary school. The population of the study consisted…

The purposes of this research project are (1) to test a theory which purports to identify the predictive antecedents (i.e., precursors) of developmental dyslexia (specific reading disability) several years before the disorder is clinically evident, and (2) to evaluate the mechanism which is postulated to underlie and influence later developmental…

Six formulas designed to predict reading capacity were compared by correlating each with actual reading performance. Two of the formulas, the Science Research Associates Tests of General Ability (TOGA) and the Harris Formula, are based on mental age only; the third, the Los Angeles Formula, employs both mental and chronological age; the fourth,…

This study was concerned with the use of a large quantity of paperback books in a school reading program and the effect of such a saturated book environment on the reading of individual students. The oral reading miscues made by 27 fifth graders prior to and immediately following their exposure to a Ludington Reading Room which housed over 3,000…

The purpose of this study was to describe the effect that providing a specific purpose for reading a selection had on the reading behavior exhibited by subjects with different reading backgrounds, and on their comprehension of the material read. The subjects in this study were selected from the fifth grade in two schools on the basis of their…

The purpose of this investigation was to describe the relationship of perceptual-motor abilities as measured on the Purdue Perceptual-Motor Survey (PMS) to reading. All children who came to the University of Georgia Reading Clinic and who met the criteria of age, grade, and intelligence range were administered the PMS. The obtained scores on the…

The basic purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Ray Reading Methods Test in predicting the most suitable method of reading instruction for first-grade children. The subjects for this study were 163 first-grade students in thirteen school districts. All the subjects had scored below the thirtieth percentile on the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there were significant differences in the reading attitude and reading achievement of first grade children in open concept classes which utilized an individualized language experience approach to reading as compared to children who were instructed in basal series in more formal classes. The…

The primary goal of the Wisconsin Reading Task Force is the initiation and implementation of an immediate and ongoing program of statewide assessment of reading performance and reading instruction. The assessment plan looks at students in terms of two questions: How well is the student achieving in reading in comparison with other students in his…

This handbook is designed to give background information on the Mini-Assessment of Functional Literacy, a criterion-referenced test designed to determine the extent of functional literacy among seventeen year olds in America. The five format categories identified for the test were passages; drawings, pictures, signs, etc.; charts, maps, graphs;…

Four experiments examined the spelling capability of students in grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and college. Results suggested that reading unit size increases with age and reading ability. Younger children, like adults, unitize common words, and unitization of less common words increases as word configurations become more familiar. (RWB)

This discussion of assessing students' reading abilities focuses on the need for developing better tests and better interpretation of test scores. Criterion-referenced tests versus norm-referenced tests are described, highlighting the Degrees of Reading Power and Metropolitan Achievement Tests: Reading, and the need for assessing the reading…