A new elementary retention policy was implemented in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in 1981-82. The AISD Board of Trustees requested a three-year study of the impact and effectiveness of the policy. This report describes results from the second year of the study, including the effect of the change in policy on staff development,…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 21 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of modality-based instruction in test taking skills upon young children's performance on standardized reading tests; (2) the effects of five…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 29 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the relationship between self-concept and reading ability in secondary school students; (2) students' perceptions of their reading groups and peers within…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) conceptualization of main idea by special admission college freshmen; (2) the interactive effects of field dependence and adjunct questions on learning from prose; (3) an art based…

Drawn from a 1983 conference that focused on reading in the school, at home, and at work, the papers in this collection deal with reading strategies, assessment, programs, methods, and materials. Topics covered in the 17 papers include the following: (1) focused instruction for reading exposition, (2) repeated reading, (3) teacher interruption…

Intended for teachers, this book on beginning literacy examines questions and solutions concerning literacy theories and practices. Chapter 1, "An Open Approach to Literacy," explores some assumptions about literacy and characteristics of a model for language learning. Chapter 2 presents historical viewpoints and current practices,…

Fourth, seventh, and ninth grade students in Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I programs were tested with the reading comprehension subtests of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills, at each of two levels: on-level for each respective grade, and an easier out-of-level form. Approximately half of these students were found to be…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: advance organizers; a comparison of the effectiveness and efficiency of behavioral objectives and sample tests; anaphoric nominal substitution and its relationship to reading…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 20 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: the relationships between reading achievement and such factors as dependency, attitude toward reading, mastery of word attack skills, reaction time on selected…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 17 titles deal with the following topics: the effects of preinstructional activities on the learning and retention of prose; the interaction of picture and print in reading instruction; the perception of structure in scrambled…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 56 titles deal with a variety of topics concerning the relationship of reading achievement to many variables such as memory, listening comprehension, intelligence, self-concept, classroom behavior, reading attitude, home…

The reading portion of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was equated to the reading comprehension subtest of the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) using the Rasch Model. Both tests were administered to 366 low achieving fourth grade students. MEAP was treated as both a 95-item test and a 19-item (number of objectives…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 29 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: various factors in terms of attitudes toward reading; the effect of group counseling on self-concept and reading achievement; the effect of three modes of…

Three hundred sixty-two questionnaires concerning braille reading instruction were completed by teachers in all 50 regular residential schools for the blind in the United States and in 258 local schools. Results revealed a considerable uniformity of methods. Two hundred blind students in grades 4 and 8 of local and residential schools were…

Research developed and evaluated an individualized reading program for 21 third graders with reading problems. It sought to improve their reading ability so they could read and understand new vocabulary words with 80% accuracy, read with increased expression and fluency, comprehend new content and, by transfer, to produce improvement in their…