This study examined the test-retest reliability and criterion validity of basal mastery tests of three commercial reading series. Results indicated that reliability and validity of the test varied among and within instruments. Implications for developing and using basal mastery tests are discussed. (Author/MT)

Two-hundred-fifty fifth graders participated in this study of the effects of evaluation condition and task difficulty on motivation to return to an initial task. The significant effect for difficulty level resulted from the interaction of difficulty level with evaluation condition. Implications for classroom practice are discussed. (Author/MT)

The effects of retelling (free recall) upon comprehension and recall of text information for fourth-grade students were investigated. After training sessions, students silently read a test passage and either retold or illustrated the important parts of the passage. Significant differences were found on all measures of reading comprehension in…

An investigation examined third- and sixth-grade students' proficiency in comprehending anaphoric relations in stories and whether grade level affected comprehension of anaphora. Both grade levels were somewhat proficient and sixth-grade students achieved significantly higher comprehension than did third-graders. (Author/MT)

An ambiguity in Gagne and Briggs' model of instructional design was investigated using treatments which contrasted verbal expository and guided discovery forms of presentation. Analysis found the guided discovery method as effective as the expository method on all measures. Implications are discussed. (Author/MT)

A sample of approximately 7,200 students was used to study the effects of adaptive education on cognitive, affective and behavior outcomes of learning. The average student in adaptive education scored at the 67th percentile of control group distributions. This effect appeared consistent across contexts of learning and categories of students.…

In a modified replication study, a general question intended to capture spontaneous detection of inconsistent information found neither good nor poor comprehenders successful. In response to a specific question, however, good comprehenders evinced far superior error detection than poor comprehenders. Reasons are speculated upon. (Author/MT)

Effects of global cognitive development, sex, and word abstractness on young readers' word recognition were explored. ANOVA results indicated that nouns were recognized more frequently than non-nouns; children with high cognitive development recognized more words than children with lower cognitive development; and females recognized more words…

An investigation analyzed stories written by intermediate grade authors to determine if sex-stereotyped roles were apparent in main characters. It found that both males and females created sex-stereotyped characters of their own sex to the same extent and that female and male character profiles differed. (Author/MT)

The effectiveness of test-taking skills training was studied by calculating test performance quantitative indices of effect magnitude from data in 24 studies. Longer training programs produced significantly greater achievement gains than shorter programs, supporting recommendations for test-taking training in schools. (Author/MT)

Responses of preservice and experienced teachers to the Teacher Concerns Questionnaire (TCQ) were analyzed to investigate the validity of TCQ scores and gain insight into teacher concerns. Generally, the results support earlier studies, but findings regarding impact concerns indicate caution is needed when basing decisions on TCQ scores.…

A test to assess prereaders' understanding of the function of print is evaluated. Results show test reliability and validity. Correlations between the Print Awareness Test and other measures are presented. Future research is called for to clarify the role of the test in the reading acquisition process. (Author/MT)

Five language-eliciting situations were presented to kindergarten and primary-grade children to identify developmental trends and task effects in the complexity of language structures, vocabulary, functions, and story conventions used. Limited developmental differences and significant task effects were found. Implications for classroom instruction…

The relationship between word difficulty, measured by morphological family frequency counts, and passage comprehension was examined. Fifth graders read either a high-frequency or low-frequency version of a social studies passage. Literal and inferential comprehension was measured revealing no significant differences in comprehension of the two…

High school students in algebra classes were presented lessons on direct variation and then tested on comprehension. The lessons were analyzed according to low-inference teacher behaviors. Findings show that lesson structure and categories of teacher vagueness were related significantly to student achievement. (Author/MT)