Readers' beliefs about their understanding and test performance as a function of the reading purpose was examined. Participants read a series of expository texts for entertainment or study purposes, answered questions about the texts, and their beliefs about future and past test performance were assessed. The results showed that students believed…

Presents SCAIT (Select key words, Complete sentences, Accept final statements, Infer, and Think at the applied level), a study technique to develop high school students' higher comprehension skills when reading content area material. (SR)

Examines the effectiveness of the SQ3R study technique in enhancing comprehension of material in an introductory psychology textbook. Finds significantly better performance on tests of recall or conceptual items for students using SQ3R than for those using individual study methods. (RS)

Relates the process of tutoring a gifted high school student. Asserts that his problems are not unique: bright students often have the same difficulty learning from expository text as average or below average students, and they can be as disorganized as everyone else. Suggests that high schools should offer instruction in content area reading.…

This study examined the learning tactics and knowledge representations used by five high school students with blindness while attempting to acquire information from text (presented in either Braille or audiotape). Tactics included re-reading; summarizing in writing, mentally, or orally; identifying ideas; and elaborating with mental images.…

Examined strategies reported by students during reading to develop knowledge in their area of professional training. Discovered the reading, encoding, self-regulation, and resource management strategies used most often by students, which were not sufficient to attain effective learning. Less frequently used strategies added nuances to the…

Shows that students can be made aware of their "illusion of knowing" text material by having them read a three-paragraph factual passage with a carefully inserted phrase near the end which contradicts the main point of the passage. Notes that few students recognized the contradiction and that discussion afterward raised awareness of the…

The prefaces of textbooks have considerable value as aids in helping students profit more from their reading. But they are frequently ignored by most young readers and rarely if ever assigned by teachers in a formal manner as aids to instruction. A model teaching unit originally using a social studies text can lead students to see the value of a…

Presents an informal testing device for discerning reading proficiency in students where standardized measurement is invalid. (JM)

Studies skilled readers' perceptions of the relative importance of elements of informative text on a subject matter with which the readers were unfamiliar. Finds little agreement among subjects regarding which material was important to remember for a test. (HB)

This handbook includes materials developed by faculty members of George W. Wingate High School in a program to improve reading skills in subject area classes. These materials include lesson plans and various kinds of worksheets. Although the lessons involve many content areas, they are divided into these reading skill subject areas; vocabulary…

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)

Two articles look at effective practices with the learning disabled. The first, "Facilitating Mainstreaming through a School-Wide Study Skills Program" (Gayle Smith), stresses one skill each month. "Semantic Feature Analysis: An Interactive Teaching Strategy for Facilitating Learning from Text" (Candace Bos and Patricia Anders) offers a method for…

Describes specific problems that students encounter when they begin the transition into content area studies. Examines a recent research summary on study skills for suggestions about how to address these problems. (MM)

Presents an annotated list of 13 books, 6 chapters, 6 articles, and a videotape that were recommended reading for elementary educators regarding reading to learn (content area reading, reading expository text, studying). (RS)