Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1945. / Reproduced from type-written copy. Bibliography: p. [89]-93.

The purpose of this study was to compare the written responses of skilled and less skilled readers to either an original or an adapted story, and the written responses of less skilled readers to either an original or an adapted short story. Data were compared relative to three areas: (1) statistical analysis of frequency of clausal units, and categorization of clausal units according to recall, inference, and supplementation; (2) statistical analysis of selected elements of the short story, specifically, setting, characterization, plot, and theme; and (3) descriptive analysis of frequent responses within each subcategory. Ninth grade students designated as skilled and less skilled readers by scores on the California Achievement Test formed two distinct sample populations. Subjects were randomly assigned to read either an original short story or an adaptation of the same story and write all they could recall, including selected elements of the short story, namely, setting, characterization, plot, and theme. Findings indicated that in terms of frequency of clausal units and categorization of clausal units, the responses of skilled readers to the original story contained significantly more clausal units and inference statements than the responses of less skilled readers. The responses of less skilled readers to the adapted story contained significantly more clausal units and inference statements than the responses of less skilled readers to the original story. Additionally, in their responses to elements of the short story, skilled readers differed significantly from less skilled readers for both the original and the adapted story with respect to characterization, plot, and theme. The responses of less skilled readers to the adapted story contained significantly more plot statements than the responses of the less skilled readers to the original story. Results point to the use of adapted stories with less skilled readers; however, caution must be used in arriving at such a conclusion since this study did not include qualitative interpretation of responses or other response measures such as reader interest and enjoyment.

No description available.

"The aim of this study is to ascertain the amount and quality of the voluntary reading of the intermediate grades of an elementary school in Clearwater, Florida. The further aim is to determine, if possible, the influence or relation of certain factors on or to this quality and amount. The factors considered are: intelligence, sex, educational background, age, accessibility, supervision, movies, radio, being a tourist, hobbies, reading attainment, arithmetic attainment, group status, educational status of parents, "comics", space in the school building, and play-yard space"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1949." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Nita K. Pyburn, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-76).

No description available.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the extent of relationship and the extent of agreement between the instructional reading level as determined by the informal reading inventory and the instructional reading level as determined by a cloze test, the Ginn Reading 360 Initial Screening Test, and teachers' estimates at three grade levels (second, third, and fourth).MethodologyTwenty-seven second graders, thirty third graders, and twenty-three fourth graders from one elementary school in Muncie, Indiana constituted the population of the study.In May, 1975, primary teachers in the selected school estimated the projected instructional reading level of their students for Septembers In a few cases (e.g., transfer students) it was necessary in the autumn of 1975 to secure this estimate from the child's previous teacher. The two group tests, the cloze test which was specifically constructed for this study and Ginn 360-IST, were administered by the investigator to the students in each of the three classrooms during a period from August 30, 1975 to September 10, 1975. The informal reading inventory, an individual test constructed specifically for this study, was administered by the investigator during a period from September 13, 1975 to October 7, 1975.Data for the eighty students included: Instructional reading placement in Ginn Basal Readers as determined y the IRI, the cloze test, the Ginn 360-IST, and teacher stimate.Analysis of Data1. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was utilized to determine relationship between the RI scores and the results of each of the other assessment devices.2. A stepwise multiple regression correlation was used to determine the relationship between the IRI scores and various combinations of the results of the other assessment devices.3. The agreement between the scores on the IRI and the results from each of the other assessment devices was determined by cross tabulation. The extent of agreement id lack of agreement was reported in percentages.4. The Kappa Index of Agreement, a nonparametric statistic, was utilized to determine whether placements agreed above and beyond chance.Findinqs1. The correlation between the informal reading inventory scores and the results of each of the other instructional assessment devices was statistically significant above the .001 level of confidence for the entire population and for each of the three grades.2. The correlation between the informal reading inventory scores and various combinations of the results from the other assessment devices revealed statistical significance at the .01 level of confidence for the entire population and for each of the three grades.3. Only three of the 12 computed Kappa values to determine the degree of agreement above chance were statistically significant at the .01 level of confidence. Lackof agreement between procedures for identifying instructional levels was evident.Conclusions1. Based on the findings of this study the cloze procedure cannot be recommended as a replacement for the informal reading inventory as a reliable assessment instrument for determining the instructional reading levels of pupils.2. The Ginn Reading 360 Initial Screening Test did not provide results that justify its use in place of tine informal reading inventory for assessing pupil's instructional reading level.3. The lack of accuracy of the teachers' estimates of their pupils' instructional reading levels would indicate that teacher estimates cannot replace the informal reading inventory as a reliable estimate of the pupil's instructional reading level.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.