In response to recommendations by a National Institute of Education (NIE) planning group to the effect that NIE should support efforts to understand the cognitive processes involved in acquiring basic reading skills and in comprehending linguistic messages, this book summarizes what has been learned about reading comprehension in the decade since the NIE recommendations. Following an introduction by Judith Orasanu and Monte Penney discussing the development of comprehension theory, the titles of the essays and their authors are as follows: (1) "Cognitive Processes in Reading" (Patricia A. Carpenter and Marcel Adam Just); (2) "What They Don't Know Will Hurt Them: The Role of Prior Knowledge in Comprehension" (Paul T. Wilson and Richard C. Anderson); (3) "The Role of Metacognition in Reading and Studying" (Ann L. Brown, Bonnie Armbruster, and Linda Baker); (4) "Changing Linguistic Perspectives on Literacy" (Roger W. Shuy); (5) "Skilled Reading and Language Development: Some Key Issues" (William S. Hall, Thomas G. White, and Larry Guthrie); (6) "Instructional Research in Reading: A Retrospective" (Isabel L. Beck and Margaret G. McKeown); "Recent Theory and Research into the Reading Process: Implications for Reading Assessment" (Roger Farr, Robert Carey, and Bruce Tone); (8) "Readable Textbooks, or, Selecting a Textbook Is Not Like Buying a Pair of Shoes" (Thomas H. Anderson and Bonnie Armbruster); (9) "Reading and Writing: How Are the First Two 'R's' Related?" (Andee Rubin and Jane Hansen); (10) "Teaching Reading and Writing with Personal Computers" (Allan Collins); (11) "Computer Technology and Reading Instruction: Perspectives and Directions" (Judith A. Langer); (12) "Literacy in the Secondary School" (Gladys P. Knott); (13) "STAR: Teaching Reading and Writing" (M. Trika Smith-Burke and Lenore H. Ringler); (14) "Development and Implementation of the KEEP Reading Program" (Kathryn Hu-pei Au, Doris C. Crowell, Cathie Jordan, Kim C.M. Sloat, Gisela E. Speidel, Thomas W. Klein, and Roland G. Tharp); (15) "The Step Up Language Arts Program: A Study of Effective Change" (Gloria M. McDonell); (16) "Rethinking Reading and Listening in a Large Public School System" R. T. Schuder); (17) "Collaboration for School Improvement: A Case Study of a School District and a College" (Donna Ogle); (18) "Content Reading in Secondary Schools" (Carol Minnick Santa); and (19) "Effective Literacy Training Programs for Adults in Business and Municipal Employment" (Larry Mikulecky). (HTH)