Finds that children who are deaf use textual schemata (rather than content schema activated through thematic organizers) for comprehension processing while reading narrative text. (SR)

Learning outcomes and reading behaviors of 171 sixth-graders were investigated while they read expository text and answered adjunct questions. The 2,400-word text was divided into four lessons, and students answered text explicit-, text implicit-, or no questions (a control group) as they read silently and were videotaped. In addition, the…

Describes development and validation of the Reading Strategy Use (RSU) scale which assesses cognitive and metacognitive strategy use. Assesses discriminant validity of the components of metacognition and cognitive strategy use. Confirms, through several studies, validity and dimensional nature of the scale. Finds that the RSU scale shows high…

Investigates possible gender bias in the Slosson Intelligence Test (SIT) in relation to reading skills. Administers the SIT and the Diagnostic Reading Scales (DRS) to 66 subjects age 8.5 to 13.5 years. Indicates the SIT was a statistically significant predictor of DRS subtests that assess oral reading, silent reading, and listening comprehension.…

Examines the influence of pre-reading instruction versus prior experience on factual and inferential comprehension. Concludes that prior experience affects factual and inferential comprehension more than does pre-reading instruction, and that younger students need to have relevant knowledge externally activated, while older students can activate…

Determines whether subjects' aesthetic involvement or story preference would be influenced by the subjects's culture or culture portrayed in text. Finds that level of aesthetic involvement was not significantly influenced by the culture of subject or text. Concludes that subjects prefer stories reflecting their own culture but are capable of…

Surveys middle school teachers' perceptions of what is considered to be important in the reading program at their schools. Finds that teachers perceive that skills mastery strategies receive greater emphasis whereas practices having to do with processes of becoming a reader receive significantly less emphasis. (SR)

Investigates the effectiveness of main idea identification training by teachers who had been successfully trained in such identification. Finds that the experimental group of students (in grades six, seven, and eight) performed better than the control group on main idea identification and knowledge of strategies related to that process. Discusses…

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of ninth-grade slow readers with ninth-grade good readers and with sixth grade readers on a test of syntactic comprehension. The significant difference between the ninth-grade good readers' and the ninth-grade slow readers' performance on A Test of Sentence Meaning (ATSM), developed by…

A study examined whether informed training and computer mediated text improved reading comprehension levels, whether computer mediated text is effective when it is preceded by informed strategy training, and whether informed strategy training leads to higher levels of metacognitive awareness and more frequent use of computer assistance options.…

Investigates the effectiveness for improving reading comprehension of a three-step paraphrasing strategy. Finds that the use of the cognitive strategy improved reading comprehension scores for all students, both with and without learning disabilities, in the experimental groups. (SR)

Reports results of cloze tests in reading and listening given to Scottish children. Indicates a continuing interdependence of reading and listening ability up to age 14. Concludes that success in comprehending narratives may not necessarily transfer to comprehending information. (RS)

Investigates students' sensitivity to compare/contrast, description, enumeration, and sequence text structures using an error-detection paradigm. Finds that task (oral recall and recognition), text structure, and grade level differentially affect students' sensitivity to the four text structures. (RS)

Reports results of two experiments on fourth- through seventh-grade below-average readers' sensitivity to Basic Orthographic Syllabic Structure (BOSS) in visual word recognition. Suggests that children are sensitive to the BOSS parsing principle and that this could be used in promoting word knowledge. (RS)

This technical report covers almost every aspect of the United States component of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's (IEA) International Reading Literacy Study, from the inception of the project to the production of the reports. The report notes that since much has already been learned from studies such…