A study evaluated the phonics performance of skilled adult readers using the D. Durkin phonics test, which was also used in 1984 to measure the phonics ability of children. The test, which was given to 25 college juniors and seniors, consisted of 29 regularly spelled pseudo or nonsense words to be pronounced aloud by the subjects. Results…

This paper addresses the question, How can the teacher become an instructional manager, turning informal feedback into pupil progress? Particular attention is given to ways teachers may use test data to help them plan lessons for the students. A number of suggestions for improving students' reading skills are also provided. (RB)

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…

Analyzes four informal reading inventories to determine the text type of each passage, whether narrative passages are well formed, and whether expository passages are well organized. Finds almost half the narratives poorly formed. Concludes that the lack of continuity in text type and organization could result in children's comprehension scores…

Examines the evolution of reading comprehension in English classrooms and examination rooms and considers active and collaborative approaches to teaching reading comprehension. (HOD)

Two techniques classroom teachers can use to screen students' ability to read and understand their text are described. The Cloze Placement Inventory and Group Reading Inventory are recommended for testing groups of students in various subjects in grades four through college. (Author/DS)

Describes a course designed to teach reading proficiency in French to non-majors in graduate programs. The method is based on the reading and translation of articles in the student's field of interest. (AM)

This paper describes adult literacy pedagogy and philosophy in Australia and reports on two studies of adult reading disabilities. The first study, with 102 asthma patients, showed important differences among different tests of reading comprehension. The second study, using 11 case studies, indicated the need to integrate adult literacy…

Assesses the effectiveness of teaching metacognitive thinking strategies through modeling to college students. Compares the reading test performance of students who had the strategies modeled to them, of students who only had the strategies taught to them, and of control group students. Teaching the strategies without modeling was ineffective.…

Information on reading and study skills programs in four-year traditionally black institutions was collected. A 20-item questionnaire administered to 66 institutional representatives elicited information concerning: the status of current reading and study skills programs from an organizational viewpont; the emphasis placed upon student testing and…

Although critics persist in attacks on the teaching profession in general and the teaching of reading in particular, both elementary and secondary school reading scores have increased steadily over the past three decades. Even Black and Hispanic students (who still score below the averages for White students tested) have made sizeable gains in…

Following a review of empirical research on teacher feedback to students' wrong responses, this paper describes a paradigm for use with direct instruction materials, applying the feedback model to comprehension tasks from traditional reading and science textbooks. The next section details a classification system for wrong responses grouped into…

This issue of "Reading in Virginia" features a bicentennial article on three early pioneers in the diagnosis of specific reading problems: Adolf Kussmaul, Rudolf Berlin, and Samuel Orton. Additional material includes sketches of the two recipients of the Virginia State Reading Association (VSRA) Distinguished Teacher Awards (Kim Rusinow…

Consisting of nine individualized inservice packets, the Teaching Teen Reading Series describes reading procedures applicable to instruction in all subjects in the elementary, middle, and secondary school. The second packet assists the teacher in analyzing the reading competencies of students in order to differentiate instruction and utilize…

The objectives of this investigation were to study the effects of instruction in the development of qualitative vocabulary on overt, latent, and written qualitative vocabulary performance of urban students of lower socioeconomic background, and to study the effects of such instruction on pupil performance in reading comprehension. Data used to…