"Word recognition automaticity" is defined as the rapid and accurate processing of whole words as units, rather than the use of word attack skills to sound words out for identification. Individual words that are recognized to a level of automaticity that includes a criterion in both accuracy and speed are referred to as part of a reader's "sight word vocabulary." / This investigation examined the effects that two different instructional techniques (context-free and repeated reading) have on increases in the sight vocabulary of children who have been identified as moderately delayed readers. Both techniques, independently, have been found to increase children's word recognition automaticity. This study compared and contrasted them in terms of effectiveness, retention, and efficiency. / All children received two weeks of repeated reading instruction and two weeks of context-free instruction. The repeated reading condition consisted of multiple oral readings of stories. The context-free condition consisted of practice on a series of multiple choice items, each composed of a vocal representation of a word and three printed words. The instructional materials in both conditions contained a common set of target words that was not part of the children's sight vocabulary at the time they were selected for the study. All instructional materials and tests were administered via computer. / The four testing conditions were (1) an immediate context-free posttest, (2) a delayed in-context posttest, (3) a delayed context-free posttest, and (4) a diagnostic progress test. / The results of a series of analyses of variance with repeated measures indicate that repeated reading instruction may be more effective than context-free instruction for increasing the number of words in the sight vocabulary of moderately delayed readers, regardless of the testing format. In addition, the results suggest that repeated reading may be more efficient than the context-free technique (increasing the number of words in sight vocabulary in less instructional time). Finally, the results suggest that the two different instructional techniques may be equally effective for maintaining increases in performance over an extended period. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-10, Section: A, page: 2589. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

The major purpose of this study was to determine if the textbooks used in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade social studies, science, and literature classes are appropriate for the students who are using them. A secondary purpose was to compare the difficulty of the texts at each grade level and in each content area. An exact word scored cloze test was administered to determine difficulty. Minor exceptions were made in scoring. / An F-test with an alpha level of.01 was used to determine if a significant difference existed in each content area. The same method was used to determine significance of difference at each grade level. If a significant difference was found, the Tukey-Kramer Modification of The Tukey Honest Significance Difference Test was used to find the source or sources of difference. / The results indicated that 92 per cent of the subjects (N = 772) tested at the frustration reading level. This result means that only eight per cent of the subjects are able to profit from attempting to read these textbooks. / The results also indicated that the social studies textbooks were less difficult than science or literature books for both tenth and twelfth graders. For eleventh graders, social studies and science textbooks were more difficult than literature books. / Eleventh grade social studies was more difficult than both tenth and twelfth grade social studies, but eleventh grade literature was less difficult than tenth or twelfth grade literature. / Because of the high percentage of subjects who scored in the frustration reading level range, the following recommendations were made: (1) The school system should implement programs to improve the reading level of its students. (2) Teachers should teach reading in the content area. (3) Teachers should develop alternatives to textbook assignments for this population. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-12, Section: A, page: 3085. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.

The major purpose of this investigation was to determine the relative difficulty of interpreting six common types of tropes. A secondary purpose was to determine if the ability of students to interpret each of the six types of tropes is significantly different between grade six and grade eleven. / The population was composed of 265 sixth-grade students and 329 eleventh-grade students. All of the subjects had at least fifth-grade reading ability. / The instrument used in this study was the Tullos Trope Test developed by the researcher. The instrument was field tested for validity and reliability. / Three hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis one stated that there are no significant differences between the mean scores of six types of tropes for sixth-grade students. This hypothesis was tested using a one-way analysis of variance. The null hypothesis was rejected. A multiple range test identified the significant differences to be between personification; allusion, litotes and synecdoche; hyperbole; and metonymy, with personification being the most difficult type to interpret and metonymy being the easiest. / Hypothesis two stated that there are no significant differences between the mean scores of six types of tropes for eleventh-grade students. This hypothesis was tested using a one-way analysis of variance. The null hypothesis was rejected. A multiple range test identified the significant differences to be between personification; litotes; allusion and synecdoche; hyperbole; and metonymy, with personification being the most difficult type and metonymy being the easiest. / Hypothesis three stated that there are no significant differences between the mean scores of sixth-grade and eleventh-grade students in the ability to interpret each of the six types of tropes. This hypothesis was tested using student t tests. The null hypothesis was rejected. There were significant differences in the mean scores of each trope type between grade six and grade eleven. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-07, Section: A, page: 2298. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The objective of this study was to identify factors that may be related to performance of prospective teachers of agricultural science on the TExES. The purposes of this study were to 1) identify demographic characteristics of pre-service agricultural science teachers, 2) describe academic performance and reading abilities of pre-service agricultural science students, 3) describe relationships among demographics, academic performance, reading abilities, and perceptions about their reading, 4) determine if differences existed between students who chose to take the TExES versus those who chose not to take the TExES test, 5) identify relationships between students’ reading abilities and their performance on TExES, and 6) explore relationships between performance on the TExES and rival variables (predictors of TExES performance in addition to reading ability). Pre-service agricultural science students from six Texas universities were administered a Reading Placement Appraisal (RPA) which indicates grade equivalent reading levels, reading rates and vocabulary levels. One hundred sixteen students completed the survey, the reading appraisal, and the TExES exam and participated in the research. These students were either in their final semester of school or in their student teaching semester. These students took their Professional Development TExES test during this semester or in the semester following. The instruments used to collect information were a two page questionnaire created by the researcher and a computerized reading appraisal provided by Taylor Associates. The results from the TExES were evaluated on a pass/fail basis instead of a numerical score. The Pearson product moment correlation coefficient revealed a low but positive relationship between gender, age or ethnicity and passing the TExES; however, there were interesting trends observed. Positive relationships were found between reading levels, vocabulary levels, and self perception of students’ reading ability. Additionally, a relationship was detected when reading and vocabulary varied by more than two grade levels. The higher discrepancy was found to be indicative of failure on the TExES exam.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the implementation of technology in the classroom impacts third grade readers with high reading scores in the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). The secondary purpose was to investigate the degree of teachers' technology integration in the third grade classroom, including the use of computers, to increase literacy levels and teachers' awareness of the overlap between the state's reading and technology standards. The population of this study included 100 teachers from high-performing campuses in the following South Texas independent school districts: Brownsville, McAllen, and Pharr-San Juan- Alamo. Quantitative correlational techniques were used to address the purpose of the study. The following are the major findings of this study: 1. There was a positive relationship between the teacher skill level and the level of technology integration in the classroom across all 60 respondents, leading to the conclusion that the districts are experiencing a developmental progression in teachers' acquisition of knowledge and fluency regarding technology skills and technology integration in the classroom. 2. The data revealed that teachers use technology more frequently to do administrative record keeping and to communicate with other colleagues rather than for direct classroom integration, such as lesson design, instruction enhancement, and communication with students and parents. 3. Participants' responses provided some possible explanations for the status of technology use across districts, listing as possible reasons lack of time for professional development in a variety of applications and for teachers to preview different kinds of software. They also mentioned lack of access to computer connectivity provided by school/district, peripherals and software, and other technology, and lack of technology support available to teachers in the classroom. 4. Teachers are familiar with the state's technology standards and are gradually making efforts to integrate technology while they teach the state standards. The study concluded by presenting a series of recommendations to improve teachers' technology skill levels and the level of technology integration in the classrooms. The findings of this study have implications for district-level decisionmaking and site-level considerations in the use of technology in the reading classrooms.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2000. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2761. Copy 2 in Main Collection. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis title page as [2] preliminary leaves. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-43).