This paper contains a critical evaluation of the research conducted by O.L. Davis and Carl Personke on the use of reading readiness tests in English and Spanish for Spanish speaking elementary school pupils. Davis and Personke indicated that, when Spanish speaking first graders were tested in both English and Spanish, most of the differences were…

This article discusses ways of diagnosing reading problems in children and the means of correcting them. (JD)

A sample of 176 first-grade children was tested on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests, 1976 Edition (MRT), during the initial month of school and was retested eight months later on the Stanford Achievement Test. Results demonstrated substantial validity of the MRT for predicting first-grade achievement. (Author/CTM)

To assess the impact of public library preschool activities on children's reading readiness skills, a criterion reference test of reading readiness development was administered to 106 children entering kindergarten. Questionnaires were given to both parents and children to determine their uses and views of the library in their town. Comparison of…

This packet is designed for use by persons conducting staff-development workshops on reading readiness and beginning reading. Organized according to an "interrelatedness concept of readiness," the materials cover six interdependent factors: physical, perceptual, cognitive, linguistic, psychological, and experimental/environmental. The…

This book discusses a plan for "learning to read through experience." It is a plan for developing reading ability as an integral part of the development of all the communication skills. It is intended to build on and to continue to provide individual experiences for each child while increasing the common group experiences. Although the plan…

The development of 10 preschool children who attended the Southeast Kansas Demonstration Child Development Center was compared with the development of 10 preschool children who did not attend a child care center to ascertain the value of the center's program. Both groups were tested with the Denver Developmental Screening Test at the beginning and…

The DPI Criterion-Referenced Pre-Reading Screening Test is to be used as one means of identifying some strengths and weaknesses in certain areas of pre-reading skills. It is intended to be used as a screening instrument for beginning first graders. The areas of pre-reading skills to be screened are (1) auditory perception, (2) letter knowledge,…

A total of 211 kindergarten children, aged 63 to 81 months, were classified into two groups according to the risk of failure in first grade predicted for them on the basis of their performance on the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) and the Draw a Person (DAP) test. According to prediction, Group I children without intervention would probably…

The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of parental participation in school on the assistance parents could give their children outside of the classroom. A Parent Involvement Program was developed in the Mesa, Arizona Title I schools to help raise the consistently low reading readiness scores of the kindergarteners in these schools.…

A variety of factor analysis techniques were employed to explore the structure of five reading readiness instruments (Gates Reading Readiness Test, Developmental Tests of Visual Perception, Metropolitan Readiness Tests, Specially Constructed Readiness Test by Olson, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) as predictor variables of performance on…

Papers from the 1997 and 1998 Current Trends in English Language Testing (CTELT) conferences include: "Computer-Based Language Testing: The Call of the Internet" (G. Fulcher); "Uses of the PET (Preliminary English Test) at Sultan Qaboos University" (R. Taylor); "Issues in Foreign and Second Language Academic Listening…

The Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study (BTES), Phase II, was a research project on effective teaching behavior--what teachers do that significantly affects what and how pupils learn. The purposes of Phase II were to (1) develop an assessment system for measuring teacher and student behaviors and other factors which could influence each of them and…

The progress made by adults in dedicated mainstream basic skills provision in England and Wales and factors associated with students' progress were examined. Of the 2,135 students from 71 colleges of further education and local education authorities who took the reading pretest, 1,224 (57%) took the reading posttest. Writing scripts were received…

A review of literature by reading authorities identified seven criteria necessary for meaningful research about reading readiness tests. These criteria were then used in analysis of 15 research studies dealing with the "Metropolitan Readiness Test" and first grade reading achievement. Five major findings resulted from this analysis:…