This study was conducted to investigate the effects of three schema-based methods of vocabulary instruction on vocabulary learning, reading comprehension, transfer of learning, and retention of learning. Two hundred fifty-one ninth-grade students in 12 intact classes were randomly assigned to the three experimental methods or to a no-method control group. The three experimental methods were expanding schemata, vocabulary overview guide, and concept of definition method. To measure the effects of the methods, the subjects were given an immediate posttest to measure vocabulary learning, reading comprehension, and transfer of learning. Three weeks later, they were given a delayed posttest to measure retention of learning. An analysis of variance conducted on posttest scores showed significant main effects for method of instruction on vocabulary learning, reading comprehension, and retention. There was also significant interaction between method and time of classes. Results revealed that, while all three methods were superior to the no-method control group, students instructed in the concept of definition method produced higher score means on both the posttests. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2520. / Major Professor: Barbara C. Palmer. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

The purpose of this study was to document the ways reading instructional materials are used by elementary classroom teachers and how reading instructional materials are selected by elementary classroom teachers in one midwestern school district. The first objective of this study was to document how teachers use materials for elementary reading instruction in grades one through five. Additional objectives were to document the materials selected by classroom teachers and to explore the influences placed on teachers in their selection of materials for elementary reading instruction. / The methods employed in this case study involved the collection of qualitative data through nonparticipant observation, interviewing and document analysis. The collection and interpretation of data framed the presentation of participant narratives. / Assertions constituting grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss,1967) were formulated from this study into three emergent themes. (1) Constructing multiple perspectives: the participant teachers constructed varying perspectives toward the delivery of reading instruction in their classrooms. (2) Weighing influences: there are many influences, both enabling and potentially constrictive, that surround teachers' decisions in the use and selection of materials to deliver reading instruction. (3) Teacher change over time: participant teachers demonstrated during the interview process that they had undergone change over time in the way/ways they approach the use and selection of materials for reading instruction. / The results of this study suggest that a shift from close adherence in the use of the adopted basal textbook to the usage of a variety of materials in addition to and/or in place of the basal textbook appears to have been made by all district teachers participating in this study. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-08, Section: A, page: 2334. / Major Professor: Carol Lynch-Brown. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The present study attempted to investigate the relationship of teacher experience, degree level, and reading coursework to teachers' knowledge of reading. The research in this area is very contradictory as to the variables which contribute to a teacher's knowledge of reading. / The subjects consisted of 354 elementary teachers employed by the 10 school systems in the Heart of Georgia CESA (Cooperative Educational Services Agency) area. The majority of the teachers were white females teaching in small rural elementary classrooms. / The subjects were given a research packet containing a demographic questionnaire, a computer scan sheet, and an instrument to assess knowledge of reading. Artley and Hardin's Inventory of Teacher Knowledge of Reading was chosen because of its validity and reliability. The sample was not randomly drawn. / Multiple regression analyses were used to test the eight hypotheses and to describe the contributions of the independent variables--experience, degree level, and coursework--to the dependent variable, knowledge of reading. The researcher utilized the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program to analyze all data. The results of the study indicated that the one variable which related significantly to teachers' knowledge of reading was degree level. The relationship between the number of reading courses and teacher knowledge of reading was strong but was not statistically significant. / Results of this study support the idea of encouraging teachers to return to the university classrooms. An implication is that salary would promote this encouragement. Many teachers are not monetarily rewarded for seeking higher degrees. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-04, Section: A, page: 1086. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

This study reports the results of research to determine whether readability formulas developed for the measuring of reading difficulty for native English readers are applicable to the measuring of readability for English as a second language learners. The specific purpose of this study was to determine if four widely used readability formulas (the Flesch formula, the Dale-Chall formula, the Fry Graph, and the Lorge formula) measured reading difficulty for ESL students enrolled in intensive English centers in the United States in preparation for academic work. / The Spearman rank order correlation coefficient was used to measure the correlation between the cloze test results of ESL students on a series of passages known as the Miller-Coleman Readability Scale and the readability formula results of those same passages. The findings were presented in four parts: (a) the cloze difficulty index and standard deviation of the reading passages based on results of the cloze tests; (b) the difficulty index of the same passages using the four different readability formulas; (c) the relationship between the cloze difficulty index and the difficulty index of each readability formula; and (d) a method to enable teachers to match a student to appropriate reading material given a known TOEFL score and a known readability level for a passage or text. / From analysis of the data, it was determined that a correlation did exist between the rank orders of the passages as measured by the cloze scores of the ESL students and by the readability formulas, and that this correlation was meaningful. / According to the data of the sample, it now seems possible to state that the four readability formulas and graphs used in this study do measure readability of ESL students and that they can be used to select material appropriate to the reading level of ESL students. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-08, Section: A, page: 2464. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

This study is a descriptive analysis of community college reading programs since the passage of the College Level Academic Skills Test (C.L.A.S.T.), mandated by the Florida legislature in 1979. Also, it is conceptually designed to ascertain the scope and effectiveness of mastery learning in those reading programs. The population was the forty-two campuses of the twenty-eight Florida community colleges. / Four research questions were examined: (1) What are the past and present practices of the reading programs? (2) What is the scope and productivity of mastery learning in the reading programs? (3) What modifications has the implementation of C.L.A.S.T. caused in the reading programs? and (4) What are the probable courses in the future for the reading programs? / Data for the study were collected by means of a 68-item questionnaire mailed in September of 1983 to reading coordinators of each of the forty-two campuses. The response was 100 percent and indicated that every campus, except one, had a viable reading program. / The data, analyzed by the proof-by-inspection method, led to the following conclusions: (1) there is a great commonality of effort and perception of success with current practices; (2) mastery learning has been fairly successful for the 21 (50%) campuses that use it; (3) at the present time, some changes because of C.L.A.S.T. have been implemented, but it may be too soon for the full effects to be manifested; and (4) most respondents are optimistic about the future of their reading programs. / General recommendations include distribution of remedial/developmental philosophies, a learning assistance center using peer tutors, mandatory placement, credit for remedial courses, a common evaluation system, more than one semester for completion, and greater utilization of Computer Assisted Instruction. Since the results of mastery learning appear inconclusive, it is recommended that further mastery learning studies be conducted. Further changes as a reaction to C.L.A.S.T. should be delayed until all the ramifications of C.L.A.S.T. have been fully realized, with further study recommended. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-09, Section: A, page: 2819. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The trope density of fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth grade social studies textbook series was studied to determine the most common type of trope found at each of the four grade levels. The investigator utilized sixteen social studies textbooks in seeking the answers to the following questions: (1) Is there a significant difference in trope density among the fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth grade social studies textbooks? (2) What is the most common type of trope found in fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth grade social studies textbooks? / Data were collected by examining sixteen social studies textbooks. The master trope, metaphor was divided into thirteen separate categories. / The differences between the trope density means of the fourth and sixth, fourth and eighth, fourth and tenth, sixth and eighth, sixth and tenth and eighth and tenth grades social studies textbooks were computed and t-tests were used to determine the significance of the differences. A frequency analysis count was used to determine the most common type of trope found at each of the two levels and the frequency rankings of the thirteen trope classifications. / In the data gathered there were no significant differences in the mean trope densities of fourth, sixth, eighth and tenth grade social studies textbooks. It was also found that the most frequently used tropes were personification, inanimate and frozen; and that the least frequently used tropes were sense, litote and incarnation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2103. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there were similarities and differences between sixth grade Thai and American students' performances on two types of cloze tests: exact-word cloze and synonymic cloze. / The subjects consisted of 106 sixth graders from two schools: The Developmental Research School (DRS) of the College of Education, Florida State University, Talahassee, Florida and the Ayuthaya Teachers' College demonstration school in Ayuthaya, Thailand. The instruments for the American subjects were four social studies passages of 278 to 296 words selected from three adopted social studies textbooks. An every fifth word cloze test was constructed from each of the four passages. The instruments for Thai subjects were four cloze passages translated from the English version used by their American counterparts. / The cloze passages both in Thai and English were scored twice by the investigator, first by exact-word scoring and then by synonymic scoring. The mean scores of the two types of cloze tests (exact-word and synonymic) were translated into the corresponding comprehension levels: independent 60%-100%, instructional 40%-59%, and frustration below 40%. The null hypotheses were tested through the utilization of the t-test. / Results of the testing showed that the synonymic scoring resulted in a wider range of scores than did the exact-word scoring; hence, synonymic scoring was more useful in terms of predicting each subject's reading ability. The conclusions were: (1) The reading process in Thai is similar to the reading process in English with meaning rather than letters and words being central to the process. (2) At least beyond the beginning reading phase, both Thais and Americans read to determine deep structure rather than surface structure. (3) Sixth grade demonstration school Thai and American students read in their respective languages equally well. (4) The study supports the top down theory of reading at the readability level tested. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 2103. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The purposes of this investigation were to: (1) Determine the differences, if any, in fourth, fifth and sixth grade students' mean scores on cloze tests in their science, English and social studies textbooks. (2) Determine the relationship, if any, between fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students' Comprehensive Assessment Program (CAP) normal curve equivalent total reading scores and their mean scores on cloze tests constructed from science, English, and social studies textbooks. / To determine the normal curve equivalent scores, the total reading scores of the Comprehensive Assessment Program, Form B were used. Textbook readability levels were determined by the Dale-Chall readability formula. The textbooks were on the Florida State adopted list. / Cloze test scores were determined from examiner constructed cloze tests of 250-275 word samples taken from 4th, 5th, and 6th grade science, English, and social studies textbooks. Tests were scored on the number of word replacements that matched the original text. A score of 40% was considered instructional level. / The subjects included all 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students enrolled in the FSU Developmental Research School. Both cloze and CAP tests were administered by the classroom teachers during regular class time. Each hypothesis was tested at the .05 alpha level. / The relative reading difficulty of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade science, English, and social studies textbooks was determined by a repeated measures analysis of variance. Significant differences existed at grades four and five but not at grade six. Social Studies was the most difficult textbook at grades 4 and 5. Over half of the students were at their frustration level in all three textbooks with the exception of fifth grade science. / The relationship between Comprehensive Assessment Program scores and cloze test scores was determined using the Pearson Product-moment correlation coefficient. At all three grade levels a statistically significant positive relationship existed between science, English, and social studies cloze test scores and Comprehensive Assessment Program scores. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, Section: A, page: 0353. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University

The major purpose of this investigation was to determine if there are similarities and differences in the critical reading abilities of elementary education majors. A secondary purpose was to identify the differences in the ability to detect specific reasoning fallacies between elementary and secondary majors. / Preservice teachers must be able to detect fallacious statements in order to become successful role models in the area of critical reading. The population tested on the Fallacies in Reasoning Test was composed of 75 elementary and 38 secondary education majors classified as juniors and seniors at the Florida State University, Spring Semester, 1984. / Distribution of item responses and t tests were used to determine the significance of mean difference between both education majors' scores on the specific reasoning fallacies tested. The level of confidence was alpha .05 level. / The null hypothesis was rejected for the hypothesis that stated there is no significant difference between the mean total scores of the elementary and secondary education majors' scores on the Fallacies in Reasoning Test. Also rejected were the either-or, improper data, appeal to conformity, part-whole, and sexism fallacies hypotheses. The null hypothesis was not rejected for the false authority, self-contradiction and stereotyping fallacies. / Secondary education majors as a group scored better, percentage-wise, on each fallacy of reasoning tested. / The self-contradiction subtest was answered incorrectly most often by both groups. The appeal to conformity subtest was answered correctly most often by both groups. / Recommendations following this study included a need to develop other reading diagnostic instruments that could measure the level of reading competency required of preservice teachers to diagnose reading capabilities for their future students. It was suggested also that other reading tests be developed to determine if additional critical reading differences exist between elementary and secondary education majors. / Since teachers must understand students' reading competencies and difficulties throughout the spectrum of education, this study stated the need for future preservice and inservice reading education programs at the university level. A move to strengthen teacher education programs in general is suggested. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-11, Section: A, page: 3314. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.