This yearbook contains the papers presented at the Fifth Annual Meeting of the North Central Reading Association. The titles and authors of the papers included are: "Speed Reading vs. Effective Developmental Reading" by Lester Van Gilder; "Counseling and Reading, Their Interrelationship" by Boyd Jackson; "Recent Research in College and Adult…

This project investigated whether teachers, committed and trained to teach reading in the content areas at the junior high school level, could improve the reading performance of all their students, particularly Mexican-Americans and blacks. The chapters are organized to reflect the accomplishments in all the objectives of the program. The first…

The articles in this issue focus upon the implications of new research and trends in the psychology of the reading process, reading interests of children, the developmental values of reading, content analysis of children's books, adult reading studies, the adult new reader, and the implications of research for the publishing world. The articles…

Based on its use with first graders in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for an eleven year period, the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) appears to have a number of advantages for reading instruction. These years of research have indicated that the advantages of i.t.a. are that it permits the child to: advance more rapidly in reading and writing…

The purpose of this paper was to bring together some of the most outstanding and significant research in recent years relating to the problems of evaluating college reading and study skills programs and the corresponding prospects and implications for improvement. The sections of the paper include: "Criterion Measures of Program Success," which is…

This book is a study of the perceptual dysfunctions prevalent in disadvantaged children together with materials and methods helpful in remediation of reading problems. New perspectives are considered provided the educator, due to the redefinition of such terms as "reading" and "intelligence," the distinction of "learning readiness" from "reading…

Examines the nature of children's sense of theme in narratives as it develops over three age levels--kindergarten, second grade, and fourth grade--and investigates the role of literature in that development. Concludes that thematic identification is an early developmental strategy. (MM)

Surveys university-based reading clinics and their potential for research leadership. Recommends that graduate programs of reading/language arts examine the consistency between the clinical component and the developmental coursework of their degree programs. (ARH)

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…

Noting that some children struggle with learning to read, this 15-minute videotape describes the essential components of an Accelerated Reading program (which provides supplemental instruction for struggling readers in Texas) and reports results of a study examining the effectiveness of various Accelerated Reading instructional approaches. It…

This applied dissertation was designed to encourage resource students to read more books for pleasure. Resource students in the writer's high school did not read many books for pleasure. Students had short attention spans and found it difficult to finish school assignments without encouragement. They also found reading difficult and often said…

Reviews reading research in Great Britain in 1987, focusing on: parental involvement; preschool literacy; oral reading; remedial reading; writing, spelling, and handwriting; word recognition; comprehension; reading and thinking; and reading schemes. Suggests that future literacy research should reflect alternative means of investigation and a…

Reports the results of two studies which further examine the relations of motivational-variables contribution to reading achievement and text comprehension. Results revealed that reading amount significantly predicted text comprehension (with other variables controlled) in both studies (Study 1 included third and fifth graders; Study 2 included…

A study investigated the effectiveness of a program for the development of literacy skills among low-achieving kindergarten students. The targeted population consisted of those identified as most at risk in the kindergarten classes at Willard Elementary School located in South Elgin, a village south of Elgin in northern Illinois. The problem of…

This 1993 yearbook presents 20 papers and summaries of the dissertation award winner "Content Literacy in High School Social Studies: A Focus on One Teacher's Beliefs and Decisions about Classroom Discussions" (E. G. Sturtevant) and the thesis award winner "Effects of Direct Instruction of Story Grammar on Story Writing and Reading…