This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 28 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) a method of individually appraising the precursory skills of beginning readers; (2) the effects of instructing third grade students in interpretive reading comprehension using the basal reader; (3) selected variables related to early prediction of performance on a school district's proficiency test; (4) educational cognitive style and the assessment of reading comprehension; (5) the relative readability of ten college English handbooks with a validation of the Fry Readability Graph for levels 13 through 17; (6) the relationship between a norm referenced secondary level reading test and a criterion referenced functional literacy test; (7) the design, implementation, and evaluation of a staff development program in a comprehensive reading/communication arts curriculum; (8) using readability estimates to measure redundancy of a cloze instrument; (9) student self-tracking with microcomputer; and (10) relationships among measures of intelligence and reading achievement in young gifted children. (FL)