This study examined parental strategies used with beginning readers, particularly how parents responded to children's miscues and what general admonitions they provided while listening to their children read. Subjects were 19 middle-class children (from 5 to 7 years old) and their parents. Each parent-child pair was visited at home and presented…

In spring 1990, a study was conducted of students in six Psychology classes taught by three instructors at Rancho Santiago College (RSC) to assess the impact of reading ability on exam performance. Students who volunteered for the study were administered the Nelson-Denny reading test. Those scoring below the 10th grade level were designated as…

As part of the National Adult Literacy Survey in 12 states, approximately 1,250 adults in Iowa were surveyed as representatives of the 2.1 million adults in the state. The aim of the survey was to characterize literacy skills based on performance on diverse tasks that reflect the materials and demands that adults encounter every day. Fourteen to…

A study examined young children's emergent reading abilities through analysis of their assisted storybook interactions. Twelve storybooks were read to 41 preschool children during a two-week period preceding interviews. During the interviews, each child was asked to "read" a favorite storybook aloud to a stuffed animal and to the…

A questionnaire on reading was administered to every student in the St. Joseph, Missouri, "Rainbow" program for gifted and talented readers. The same questionnaire was administered to a cross sectional sample of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in regular classrooms in the same district. Among other things, results showed that (1) 75% of…

Drawing from the literature on reading research and theories, this paper discusses the problems of community college students with severe reading/writing deficits, reviews the advantages and limitations of various approaches to reading instruction, and suggests a new method of word decoding. First, the paper explores the difficulties facing the…

"Now Johnny CAN Learn to Read" is an easy-to-read book intended for anyone involved in helping others learn to read. An initial section of the book focuses on how to make reading a socially stimulating, successful activity. In this section, viewpoints are shared from a child and a parent, and a reading specialist tells of the successes…

A study examined the relationship between reading instruction method, sex of learner, word learning proficiency and reading achievement in the first grade. Subjects were 78 males and 88 females chosen from two white, middle class suburban schools, one having a sight vocabulary instruction program, the other a phonic basal program. Students were…

A study examined the relative comprehension difficulty and the influence of reader and text characteristics on reading comprehension for texts presented in traditional print or on the microcomputer screen. Two urban samples of mixed ethnicity were used, 95 low reading level high school students (grades 9 through 12) and 112 high ability eighth…

To help college reading teachers develop an awareness of what standardized reading tests do and do not reveal about students' reading abilities, a study examined the testing of reading and criticized four major standardized tests. Results indicated that reading is tested through (1) reading passages accompanied by multiple choice questions, (2)…

Eight case studies representing valid and extensive reading research were reviewed to determine the impact of school principals on student reading achievement. In all eight studies, principal leadership behavior was positively associated with reading achievement and school outcomes. Evidence indicated that reading effectiveness was enhanced by…

A study investigated the inference strategies used by sixth grade students reading narratives, and the results were compared with the inference strategies identified as those used by skilled adult readers. Subjects, 80 sixth grade students from two Canadian urban centers were divided into two groups: 40 high-proficiency readers and 40…

The reading skill development of anglophone kindergarten children in French immersion programs in Canada is the subject of the two papers included in this document. The first paper describes a study that examined the English reading ability of both kindergarten and first grade children in immersion programs and compared the results with those of…

A study was conducted in fall 1985 to determine how well students at San Joaquin Delta College (SJDC) were prepared in reading, writing, and mathematics, comparing students by ethnicity, high school status, and age. SJDC uses the Comparative Guidance Placement (CGP) Tests to to assess all new students who do not have an Associate of Arts degree or…

A longitudinal survey that was part of a larger British research project on the perception of textual cohesion has yielded some insights into the reading problems of students on both sides of the primary/secondary school line. Subjects were 1,355 children, ages 8, 10, and 13. Two booklets for junior school and two for secondary school students…