A preliminary study investigated whether regular periods of sustained silent reading (SSR) would positively affect verified silent reading comprehension scores for eighth grade students. The hypothesis tested was that students allowed 15 minutes of recreational reading (reading self selected material for enjoyment) five times a week for three…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The nine titles deal with the following topics: (1) unobtrusive issues in the agenda-setting role of the press; (2) perceptions and usage of the Caribbean News Agency (CANA) in the third world; (3) the relationship between the…

The Home Environment Variable Questionnaire was given to guardians of 73 fifth grade students enrolled in bilingual-bicultural education programs in Espanola, New Mexico, for the purpose of identifying those home environment variables which predicted academic achievement. Grade Equivalent Scores from the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills were…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 30 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effect of a series of lessons based on real life experiences for improving reading achievement; (2) reading achievement and the transition from letter to…

Developed by the International Reading Association Library Resources and Reading Committee, this book is designed to help parents, teachers, and librarians provide children with books and reading experiences that will make reading a lifetime habit. Part One, "The Right Book for Each Child: Book Selection and Library Use," contains the following…

The 11 essays in this volume are organized around several themes related to the humanities and higher education. Papers discuss demographics and funding needs; classroom climate; books, libraries, and reading; educational theory; and educational institutions. Essays include: "Change in the Humanities and Higher Education" (Alvin Kernan);…

This study was designed to determine attitudes of prospective primary school teachers toward gender equity. The specific objectives were: (1) to find out their attitudes toward gender equity, that is, whether they were positive or negative; and (2) to compare the attitudes in terms of the following independent variables: gender, age, grade, type…

A study determined the relationship, if any, between students' learning styles and the types of books they choose to read independently, as well as the amount of time they spend reading independently. Study participants were 72 seventh-grade students attending a middle school in Cobb County, Georgia, who had scored 70 or above in any of the four…

The relationship between student's home environment and achievement in science was examined using data from the 1985-86 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Science Assessment, for a nationally representative sample of American school age children in grades 7 and 11. Science achievement and background data were also collected for grade 3.…

Twenty-five undergraduate preservice teachers in the literacy block (a six credit hour block of reading and language arts methods courses) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln wrote their literacy autobiographies to fulfill one of the course requirements. These autobiographies help students' develop insights into their literacy past and present.…

Based on the premise that comprehension must be the true and final goal of all instruction in reading, this book is designed to provoke teachers' reflections about their own ideas, reading, language, and experiences as teachers of reading comprehension and to help them base their teaching decisions on a knowledge of theory and research about how…

This book is one in a series that present stories by practitioners in Catholic schools. The papers include: "The Write Traits: Trait-Based Writing Assessment and Instruction for the 21st Century" (Arlene Bertellotti-Weidner); "What's in a Name?" (James Bleecker); "What is a Christ-Centered Environment?" (Michael L.…

A longitudinal study of student reading attitudes was conducted in 30 schools (20 elementary, 10 middle) using the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey instrument (ERAS). The instrument tested attitudes toward both recreational reading and academic/school reading as part of the Reading Excitement and Paperbacks Project (REAP). REAP participant…

A study examined whether reading aloud to kindergarten children on a regular basis would have an effect on their attention span. Subjects, 28 kindergarten students from a New Jersey school, were pretested and then assigned either to an experimental group or to a control group (14 in each group). The experimental sample received the treatment of…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The ten titles deal with the following topics: passage integrity and type of instruction in prose learning; college student self-concept and reading gain in two instructional methods; the consequences for adults of childhood…