"Within these pages I shall attempt to identify the relationship between physical, mental, and social development and a suitable reading program to satisfy the needs of the average child in the sixth grade. In so doing, it becomes evident that the teacher is charged with the responsibility of taking each child where she finds him, in relation to his ability to read and comprehend, and of providing him with sufficient experiences so that when he leaves her grade for the next one, he will have the feeling of having actually accomplished a goal and will feel better prepared to attack the problems facing him in the next grade. There will be some children leaving the sixth grade who will not be reading on the seventh grade level, but it is hoped that each child will have had ample opportunity to work at his reading level without feeling frustrated; that he will have learned how to find materials and organize them in such manner that he can make worthwhile contributions to class discussions; and that he will have improved his skills in reading so that reading will be a pleasure for him as well as a means of gaining information and sharing it with others. If he can feel that reading and being able to read has made a real contribution to his personal welfare and that it is helping him adjust to his environment, the teacher may be justified in feeling that this kind of program is well worth all the effort expended by herself and the pupils"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August. 1950." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M.A." / Advisor: Elizabeth Hamlin, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-48).

This study presents a plan of approach to the problems that arise in the development of a reading readiness program. It outlines some of the factors that influence reading readiness: it includes a program of procedure for dealing with children who are deficient in some of the factors of reading readiness; it enumerates some of the classroom, and some of the administrative problems that arise in planning a program of this type; and it attempts to eradicate the age old fallacy that a six year old child is ready for the reading process merely because he has passed his sixth birthday.

The purpose of this study is to compare first-hand and vicarious experiences as means of developing those factors or traits of reading readiness that may be improved through training. More specifically, it is an attempt to measure the amount of readiness gained through the two types of experiences by two groups of first-grade children in the San Angelo Public Schools.

The problem of this investigation was to determine the number of children who are ready to read when they enter first grade and the number ready to read after a reading-readiness program.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether certain methods employed for the development of reading readiness among first-grade pupils in the Washington Elementary School of Sherman, Texas were effective. Careful evaluation was made by means of standardized tests for the purpose of ascertaining the results accomplished in the course of a school year by the methods used for the development of reading readiness.

The problem of this study was to determine the effect of a modified form of Kephart's perceptual-motor training program on the performance of kindergarten pupils on Metropolitan Readiness Tests. This program was made up of certain perceptual-motor activities which were utilized during the regular school play periods.

Time-compressed speech discrimination of children grouped as high and low risk on a reading-readiness test was examined. Children were grouped according to performance on a measure of reading-readiness skills. All passed a hearing screening at fifteen decibels for octave frequencies 250-4000 Hz. The Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification (WIPI) comprised the time-compressed speech task, in a sound field at seventy decibels Sound Pressure Level and zero degrees azimuth. The protocol for administration of the time-compressed speech task was sixty per cent time compression, then zero per cent time compression. Significant effects appeared for time compression ratio and test group. Average difference was twelve per cent and approximately eight per cent at zero.

This research is a content analysis of six recently published basal reader series, each of which begins with a readiness/priming sequence that starts with letters, words, connected strings of words, and a few pages of activities which might be considered general readiness. While this concept of readiness for reading reflects a word recognition view of reading, marketing promotions include eclectic statements regarding philosophy, materials, and methods which reflect an early childhood view of child development and meaning construction. Publishers imply that reading is a process of constructing meaning, but they supply materials for both students and teachers which neither encourage nor allow for meaningfulness. While descriptions of the series studied promise special and unique approaches to readiness, they are very similar to one another in every aspect of readiness. Each provides an overwhelming proportion of activities and workbook pages with the major instructional focus on letters and words. There are minor differences in connected text among the various series, but those differences are primarily in regard to the specific type of vowel control used. Considerations about the syntactic and semantic language systems follow the same formulae throughout the industry. Publishers of basal readers hire professional educators to quote research and lend credibility to their "scientifically" designed programs, but the published materials often contradict statements made by these professionals. While there is some indication in the manuals and promotional materials that suggest knowledge on the part of editors and authors concerning research in the areas of emergent literacy and psycholinguistic theory, there is little within the materials and methods that reflects this knowledge.

This study was designed to determine degree to which self concept and reading readiness of kindergarten children might be affected through a bibliotherapeutic intervention program. The procedure employed oral reading of selections by the teacher, retelling of stories by children, discussion questions, and follow-up activities.The population consisted of ten kindergarten sections (six experimental and four comparison) in four elementary schools within Harrison District #2, Colorado Springs, Colorado.Assessment instruments included scales from the Stanford Early School Achievement Test,, and three subcategories and total self concept measures from the I Feel . . . Me Feel: Self Concept Appraisal.The procedures followed by classroom teachers who used the bibliotherapy program during a four-month experimental period were explicitly described in a handbook provided.A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tested the null hypotheses of no significant differences between bibliotherapy and comparison groups on measures of (1) self concept and (2) readiness. Univariate F statistics revealed that factors contributing to the significant F included three measures of self concept--Self, Others, Surrounding--and one reading readiness measure--Word Reading.The hypothesis of correlation between self concept employed a one-tailed t statistic. Statistically significant correlations were evidenced between self concept total and two readiness subtests--Math and Environment.Findings included:1. Significant differences for all three self concept measures favoring the bibliotherapy group.2. Statistically significant differences between the bibliotherapy and comparison groups for one of the two reading readiness measures with no significant difference for general areas of readiness.No statistically significant correlations between self concept and reading readiness measures; statistically significant correlations for two areas of general readiness.Among the population studies, it was concluded that bibliotherapy appeared to have a favorable impact on pupil perceptions and achievement. Use of bibliotherapy by teachers was recommended as well as further research to establish potential effectiveness.

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