The impact of interestingness and "narrativity" on comprehension, attention, and reading speed and the role of topic familiarity were studied for 16 college students in psychology classes and 8 from engineering classes who read excerpts from psychology and engineering texts. Results support schema-based comprehension theory. (SLD)

Four studies examined reading disabilities in elementary school children from the perspective of componential skills of reading. A principal-components analysis of the performance of 139 children on reading-related tasks yielded two factors: decoding and comprehension. Factor analyses indicated that orthographic skills and processing speed could…

Five experiments used self-paced reading time to examine the ways in which complex noun phrases influence the interpretation of referentially dependent expressions. Results indicate that the entity introduced by a major constituent of a sentence is more accessible as a referent than the entities introduced by component noun phrases. (Author/VWL)

Effects of differentiated feedback on the oral reading rate of three secondary students with learning disabilities were studied. The study found that visual feedback increased the overall reading rate more than verbal feedback or miscue analysis. Using both visual and miscue analysis feedback yielded the greatest reading accuracy. (CR)

Sixty children (ages 8-10) with severe reading disabilities received daily intensive one-to-one instruction that differed in depth and extent of instruction in phonemic awareness and phonemic decoding. Both approaches were highly effective in improving reading accuracy and comprehension although measures of reading rate showed continued severe…

Initial reading speeds across grades show points at which children with low vision are at risk of developing low literacy skills. Outcome group measures showed that 185 children (grades preK-12) who received optical devices increased their silent reading speeds and comprehension rates. Findings indicate optical devices assist in deciphering text.…

Testing materials for high school students whose reading is below grade level might not be age-appropriate or sufficiently motivating. The first step in finding appropriate material would be to talk with the student to learn his or her interests. To find age-appropriate material the author searched Internet resources and then used Microsoft Word…

The Reading First Initiative supports the importance of classroom teachers' use of diagnostic tests that are "scientifically based." This article focuses on the new assessment known as DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. DIBELS is composed of the following subtests: phonological awareness (recognizing initial…

Students (N = 730) took the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (current forms G or H) during orientation to medical school. Stepwise regression analyses showed the Nelson-Denny Reading Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Rate were significant predictors of MCAT (taken prior to admission to medical school) verbal reasoning. Reading Vocabulary was a significant…

A group of seventh- and eighth-grade Italian students with low achievement (LA) in learning English as a foreign language (FL) was selected and compared to a group with high achievement (HA) in FL learning. The two groups were matched for age and nonverbal intelligence. Two experiments were conducted to examine the participants' verbal and…

A multiple-baseline design across word lists was used to investigate the effects of a modified taped-words intervention on Dolch word reading of a fifth-grade student who speaks English as a second language. The student completed a daily self-managed intervention in which he listened to lists of 30 sight-words while reading along, attempting to…

Learning from a distance continues to gain popularity. An influx of traditional, and even on-campus students attest to its flexibility, but are they equipped to succeed in a low-contact distance environment versus a face-to-face, on-campus environment? This research explored whether several variables including background, preparedness and…

This is the second part of a two-part report of a study about the instruction of children who are learning or using both braille and print simultaneously (dual media). It explores the instructional methods and curricular decisions of teaching dual media to students with low vision and reports the students' current literacy levels and reading rates…

A practicum addressed the problem of achieving reading speed and accuracy along with reading comprehension in an eighth grade remedial class, by implementing short timed reading passages and teacher-made speed tapes. Eleven students were pretested and posttested with the Gates-MacGinitie reading test in comprehension, speed, and accuracy. The…

Reinforcing the concept that study skills instruction needs to be part of the curriculum at every grade level and needs to be taught through a developmental approach, this resource book provides suggested student competencies, teaching approaches, and sample activities. This guide contains a section for each of seven study skills--locating…