In a study that examined the conditions that were likely to facilitate error detection, it was hypothesized that poor readers' comprehension monitoring abilities would improve if they were given assistance in selecting the appropriate schema for understanding a passage. When the hypothesis was tested with 20 sixth grade students in an error…

This study was conducted to investigate the comparative effects of homogeneous versus heterogeneous ability grouping on the reading achievement of slow learners in the first two elementary grades. Pretest and posttest scores obtained on the Metropolitan Reading Readiness Tests indicated that the type of grouping had no effect on the reading…

Stanford Diagnostic Reading Tests and The Wide Range Achievement Tests were administered to 307 second, fourth, and sixth grade students to study the reading subskills of blacks, Latinos, and Asians/whites. An analysis of variance tested main effects of ethnicity, reading levels (good, average, and poor), and interaction effects. Main effects of…

This monograph examines reading as a cognitive process, focusing on the relationship between reading and thinking as developed in Piagetian theory. Sections of the paper provide a brief overview of Piagetian theory, pointing out its relevance for reading; examine correlational, comparative, and perceptual studies of the relationship between…

This guidebook puts testing in proper perspective as one aspect of evaluation and leads the test user through a practical discussion about selecting and developing valid, reliable tests. Its primary purpose is to assist classroom teachers, reading consultants, and school administrators in making decisions about measuring student reading…

Noting the limitations of recent word recognition research, this paper suggests ways that these limitations might be overcome and then extends these suggestions into a framework for distinguishing between good and poor readers' ability to comprehend words. The paper begins by reviewing the major models of word recognition and discussing their…

In this investigation, 72 second-, fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade speakers of black English were studied in an attempt to determine whether a relationship exists between the speaking of black English and the reading of standard English. Two variables of oral language were examined: the degree of divergence from standard English and the ability…

This survey of literature summarizes the findings of current research on sex differences in reading: studies relating to the validity of the sex-difference claim, studies examining the relationship between maturation factors and environmental characteristics, research concerned with factors in the home and school, and studies concerned with the…

Research studies on the affective elements of reading ability show a definite relationship between self concept and reading achievement in children. Based on these findings, this study investigated the relationship between reading achievement, self concept level, and perception of reading ability in college freshmen. Forty-six students from a…

Rather than abandon reading expectancy formulae because they produce different reading expectancy scores, educators should attempt to improve such formulae in order to make appropriate decisions about students. Potential reading levels derived from the use of various expectancy formulae may be compared after converting the scores to stanines,…

The effect of the interaction between imagery level and number of semantic propositions on junior high readers at three ability levels was studied, using an instrument that compared two levels of imagery at each of five levels of semantic propositions. Syntax, word frequency, and number of arguments were held constant. The results indicated that…

This study investigated the effect of embedded parts (intervening words between the main subject and verb of a sentence) on young readers' abilities to comprehend when the embedded parts do not present a significant change in sentence structure. Two schools in Bemidji, Minnesota, were selected for the study: school one is located in a low…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were statistically significant correlations among standardized test scores due to general reading ability and whether these correlations were affected by the factors of sex, race, and I.Q. Scores were collected for three different tests (Nelson-Denny Reading Test, Lorge-Thorndike I.Q. Test,…

The question of whether or not the level of reading competency has declined over the years, is addressed in this report. The study attempts to determine whether there is sufficient data to answer the question and to decide if the available factual information allows an answer to the question posed. Chapter one, describing the first phase of the…

Sixty-four preschool children were individually trained on a task requiring them to recognize an isolated phoneme in a word context. A learning set design encompassing 192 trials over eight days was employed. The major factors investigated were: the presence of a redundant visual cue; phoneme type (stop vs. continuant); phoneme position (initial…