English teachers must teach the reading skills which high school students need to handle informational reading matter and the more thoughtful magazines on the market, as well as the materials every adult encounters on the job or in pursuing a hobby. They must concern themselves with teaching students to read nonfiction prose for the following…

This paper discusses the teaching of reading to secondary level and adult ineffective readers. The paper deals with the real costs of reading failures, the human frustration of not being able to read, and the role of reading in our society. It presents three brief studies of adults' inability to read; discusses ways of helping ineffective high…

This paper discusses criterion referenced tests' characteristics and their use in clinical evaluation. The distinction between diagnostic tests and criterion referenced measures is largely a matter of emphasis. Some authorities believe that in diagnostic testing the emphasis is upon an evaluation of an individual's strengths and weaknesses in…

Presents a study of United States History textbooks that identifies possible shortcomings of several readability formulas as tools in determining the appropriateness of reading materials. Suggests additional factors to consider when selecting textbooks and techniques to help students understand reading materials. (AEM)

A study examined the experiences of students, teachers, and principals involved in the day-to-day teaching of early elementary reading in four of the 12 Texas "Spotlight Schools" (schools that emphasize early elementary reading and are useful in helping all children to read). Data were collected during four-day site visits to each…

A collection of four years worth of data analyzing reading discrepancies for the Cleveland (Ohio) Public Schools is contained in this report, the fourth in a series addressing this issue. An introduction notes that data were gathered to determine the nature and extent of disparities in the reading test scores of elementary and secondary school…

This study focused on whether a supplemental program in structural analysis would improve the reading proficiency of children identified as deficient in the syntax and inflections of their language. Sixty-nine second-grade children, whose psycholinguistic ages were determined by scores on a grammatic closure test, to be six months or more below…

A study involving 81 freshmen nursing students at Westark Community College was conducted during 1975-76 to determine the role reading proficiency plays in the academic success of nursing students and the extent to which a developmental reading course improves reading capability. Using the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, student vocabulary,…

A SMALL SAMPLE PILOT PROJECT WHICH DEMONSTRATED A TREATMENT EFFECTIVENESS AND SUGGESTED FUTURE LINES FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF PARENT TRAINING PROGRAMS IS DESCRIBED. THE MAJOR HYPOTHESIS TESTED WAS THAT PUPILS WHOSE PARENTS WERE INVOLVED IN A TRAINING PROGRAM WOULD SHOW GREATER REGRESSED GAINS IN READING SKILLS THAN PUPILS WITH PARENTS NOT…

The papers in this volume represent both theory and application in reading research. The topics are as follows: research on programs for poor readers; a method for teaching children who have reading difficulties even though they have learned decoding skills; a decade of research on reading and learning disabilities; children's understanding of…

Concludes that underachieving readers appeared to make significantly less use of the phonemic, graphic, and grammatical features of text when providing miscue responses to cohesive items than they did when making miscue responses to the text as a whole. In addition, they often lost the meaning relationships conveyed by the text when providing…

This article describes how a first-grade teacher used poetry to provide students of diverse ability levels with reading and language activities that stimulated their interest and improved basic skills. Activities with poetry included reading the poems aloud individually and as a group, discussing and analyzing the poems' words and meanings, and…

Examines the use of reading diaries, in which parents of poor readers recorded their child's reading activities at home. Indicates that children made a mean gain in Reading Age Score of 6.3 months after five weeks of using the reading diary approach. Reports positive change in reading attitudes for both parents and children. (MG)

Briefly reports on five out-of-school-studies and three in-school studies showing the value of free voluntary reading (FVR). The failure of direct reading instruction and its implications for developing reading skills, the components of a free reading program, and the role of writing are discussed. (34 references) (KRN)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the more effective decision rule set between the goal oriented and the treatment oriented approach within the context of alterable and unalterable elements of instruction. Students (n=343) identified as learning disabled by their schools from grades 1 through 6 in 35 schools in a large city school…