In an effort to improve the reading readiness skills of children entering the first grade, a special class was established in a lower socioeconomic area of a large city. Testing procedures were instituted to select appropriate pupils, and pretest and posttest results were used to evaluate the program. The 19 pupils selected for the class were…

An evaluation of the Pittsburgh Public Schools preprimary program for 2,000 disadvantaged children concluded that the program contributed to the socioemotional maturation of the children involved but did not affect their reading readiness or first grade reading test scores. This finding may be explained in part by a lack of specific academic…

This two-part guide was designed to serve as a comprehensive source of information on published reading tests. Part I provides the following descriptive information about each test: (1) the name as listed on the front cover of the test booklet, (2) the publisher's suggested grade or age level for test use, (3) the type of test-individual or group,…

The School Board of Virginia Beach has conducted a two-year pilot program focusing on elementary school students who attend school 45 days and break 15 days year round. Four principal questions were proposed and researched by various independent agencies: (1) What effect does the 45-15 cycled-attendance year-round operation have on pupil…

Investigation and coordination of research on various aspects of the reading process were the first purposes of Project Literacy. These programs in their various stages of development have been reported in nine issues of the Project Literacy Reports which are now available from ERIC. The development of a first-grade reading program was started…

Documented and detailed accounts of productive thinking and concept attainment provide the essence of this textbook intended for use by graduate students who are interested in the teaching of reading as a cognitive process. The first part of the book explains how the foundations of reading instruction are based on thinking. The second and third…

Materials and methods of instruction, adequacy of facilities, teacher quality, and motivation are influential factors in the quality of learning. Language and verbal ability are functions determining achievement in all subject areas. A reading and social science curriculum was designed from this perspective, using a previously-developed listening…

Beginning teachers of Navajo children in Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools are offered some indications of what to expect of their students in this teacher orientation guide. Characteristics of students and situations are presented for elementary and secondary grades. Helpful hints for the first few weeks of school are given. The importance…

This study was designed to determine (1) the relevance of a child's "language map"--his expressed attitude toward reading as developed by early experiences with reading material and oral reading--to his potential reading achievement and (2) the accuracy of a previously developed instrument for measuring the "language map" and thus the semantic…

The development of an entry skills behavior package designed as lessons to prepare the culturally divergent children of the Southwestern United States for beginning reading instruction in existing school programs is described. The series of 135 discrete lessons teaches auditory discrimination, associative vocabulary, listening comprehension,…

As a beginning point from which a teacher may use his own insights and understandings to launch, enrich, or strengthen a reading program, this tentative guide to reading offers some ideas, suggestions and guidelines that can aid the teacher in meeting the individual needs of his students. Activities and techniques are built upon a continuum so…

Fifty-five first grade students from low socioeconomic neighborhoods who lacked understanding of fundamental concepts frequently found in preschool and primary instructional materials and who possessed a low self-concept and limited experience were divided into a control and two experimental groups. The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts (BTBC) was…

This report investigates perceptual functioning in the kindergarten first-grade period for slow- and average-maturing children. Two sets of auditory and visual tasks were devised: (1) identifying the first of an ordered pair of lights or tones when speed of presentation was a factor, and (2) categorizing each stimulus signal either by a uni- or…

Relationships existing between elements of intelligence, age, and environment and meaningfulness of materials were examined along with the hypothesis that an increase in meaningfulness of materials would cause the mean difference in learning scores for different intelligence levels to first increase, then decrease. In a paired-associate task,…

Specialists in child development have recommended that children be "read to" at an early age. Many children are read to, and some have been read to a great deal. However, much more is to be desired for some groups of the population and for some individuals. In recognition of the needs of these children this Curriculum in Listening Achievement was…