Early Reading Achievement Research Articles

The Development of Grammatical Sensitivity and Its Relationship to Early Reading Achievement

THIS RESEARCH traced the development of grammatical sensitivity (both semantic and syntactic) across Grades 1, 2, and 3 on a variety of oral-language tasks and related this development to the acquisition of skill in reading, as reflected by a range of reading measures. The results provide clear evidence for the development of grammatical sensitivity across the three grades, and grammatical sensitivity (with general cognitive ability and vocabulary level controlled) was found to be significantly related to level of reading skill. The findings are interpreted within the context of interactive-compensatory processes in reading fluency and stages of reading acquisition.

Revision of the Tent Series of the Children's Embedded Figures Test: A Possible Predictor of Early Reading Achievement

A shortened version of the Tent series of the Children's Embedded Figures Test is proposed as a possible predictor of early reading achievement.

Measuring Early Reading Progress: Some Non-Traditional Measures

Six recently developed measures of abilities and/or attitudes related to early reading achievement were administered to all of the first-grade population in a rural school district. The predictive powers of the six tests were computed with scores on the Metropolitan Achievement Test as the criterion measure. Their predictive powers were compared and contrasted with those of more traditional measures easily available to primary grade school personnel. Three tests were further investigated as criterion measures of mid-year achievement. These three, the Units of Print Test, the Mow-Motorcycle Test, and the Mickish Word Boundary Test, were found to be valuable benchmark measures.

Early reading achievement, oral language ability, and a child's home background

The relationships between early reading achievement, oral language ability, and the home were studied in a group of 543 school-entry age children. Using hierarchical multiple regression it was found that socioeconomic status was associated with both reading achievement and oral language ability. However, this association occurred largely because socioeconomic status was associated with educational processes in the home which contribute more directly to early achievement. In addition home educational processes were found to contribute to early reading achievement primarily by providing oral language skills and to a lesser extent by providing specific reading skills. The inadequacy of using socioeconomic status to investigate the relationship between the home and school achievement was discussed.

Conceptual model for nonintellectual behavior and its relationship to early reading achievement.

Conceptual model for nonintellectual behavior and its relationship to early reading achievement.

Conceptual model for nonintellectual behavior and its relationship to early reading achievement.

Conceptual model for nonintellectual behavior and its relationship to early reading achievement.

Inflectional Performance and Early Reading Achievement

EXPLORES THE ABILITY of firstand second-grade children to supply the inflectional morphemes of English and investigates the relationship between inflectional performance and reading achievement. A two-way analysis of variance, based on the scores of 134 subjects on a revision of Berko's test of morphology revealed no significant sex or grade differences in inflectional performance. However, correlational analyses of the scores of 108 subjects did reveal a significant relationship, independent of intelligence, between inflectional performance and reading achievement as measured by the Primary Reading Profiles. This relationship was significant at the .01 level for first graders and at the .001 level for second-grade children. Moreover, the relationship was significantly higher at the second-grade level than at the first. Interpretations of the nature of the relationship between reading ability and morphology are suggested and problems for further study are identified.

The Relationship between Measures of Pre-Reading Visual Discrimination and First Grade Reading Achievement: A Review of the Literature

ACCUMULATED RESEARCH evidence which deals with the relationships between various types of visual discrimination abilities and first-grade reading achievement is reviewed. The relative predictive power of visual discrimination of letters, words, geometric designs, and pictures when these abilities are studied individually and in combination is indicated. The following generalizations are presented: z] Visual discrimination of letters and words has a somewhat higher predictive relationship with first-grade reading achievement than does visual discrimination of geometric designs and pictures; 21 several tasks requiring discrimination of geometric designs and pictures have predictive possibilities and warrant additional study; 31 there is no clear-cut information as to whether discrimination of letters or discrimination of words has a superior relationship with early reading achievement; 41 There is a need for investigations that employ statistical designs which utilize multivariate analysis.

Programed Instruction Versus Usual Classroom Procedures in Teaching Boys to Read

It is commonly observed that more boys than girls are unsuccessful in beginning reading (Gates, 1961; Alden, Sullivan, and Durrell, 1941). Although the real cause for the failure of boys to achieve as much as girls is unknown, various theories have been proposed. Factors of growth, maturation, and development are considered most critical by some (Gallagher, 1948; Monroe, 1932). Others have stated that the reading interests of boys and girls differ and that existing instructional content appeals more to girls (Heilman, 1961). Negative treatment of male learners by female teachers has been suggested as another explanation for the slow progress of boys in reading (St. John, 1932; Davidson and Lang, 1960). A previously untried approach to the collection of evidence regarding the inferiority of boys in beginning reading is through programed instruction. This technique offers increased control by standardizing the conditions under which reading material is presented to boys and girls and insuring that all have equal opportunities to respond. The present study compares the learning of boys and girls under the controlled conditions of programed instruction with the learning of these same children under direct instruction by female teachers. The possibility is explored that classroom teachers treat boys and girls differently and that this difference in treatment is associated with differences in early reading achievement. The specific hypothesis is: whereas boys excel in beginning reading under the neutral conditions of programed instruction, these same boys will not maintain their superiority when placed under the direction of female teachers. Further, it is hypothesized that (a) boys will be perceived by their classmates as receiving more negative comments from teachers and as having fewer opportunities to respond in their reading groups than girls and (b) reading progress will be related to teachers' comments and to opportunities to respond.