READING IN VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS: AN ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ READING ABILITY AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

The study investigated the reading ability and classroom performance of vocational students enrolled in the second year of study in auto mechanics, carpentry, electronics, graphics, and masonry. Performance on the California Achievement Test showed average reading achievement for electronics students and below average reading achievement for students in the remaining vocational areas. Students’ ability to read their vocational textbook was measured by a cloze task, with auto mechanics students showing an adequate level of comprehension for instruction. Carpentry, graphics, and masonry students showed performance below instructional level. Significant differences were found in reading achievement between electronics students and the other four areas, and between auto mechanics and masonry. Vocational students in the present sample represented, to some extent, separate groups for reading achievement rather than the traditional view of homogeneity across vocational subjects. Teachers’ evaluations of students’ classroom performance showed statistically significant correlations with textbook reading ability in only two subjects, auto mechanics and carpentry. Correlations suggested that success may not always be dependent on the ability to comprehend the textbook, and that the vocational teachers sampled may not have placed a high value on reading ability as an indicator of competence in a vocational subject.     

To read or not to read: a meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood

This research synthesis examines whether the association between print exposure and components of reading grows stronger across development. We meta-analyzed 99 studies (N = 7,669) that focused on leisure time reading of (a) preschoolers and kindergartners, (b) children attending Grades 1-12, and (c) college and university students. For all measures in the outcome domains of reading comprehension and technical reading and spelling, moderate to strong correlations with print exposure were found. The outcomes support an upward spiral of causality: Children who are more proficient in comprehension and technical reading and spelling skills read more; because of more print exposure, their comprehension and technical reading and spelling skills improved more with each year of education. For example, in preschool and kindergarten print exposure explained 12% of the variance in oral language skills, in primary school 13%, in middle school 19%, in high school 30%, and in college and university 34%. Moderate associations of print exposure with academic achievement indicate that frequent readers are more successful students. Interestingly, poor readers also appear to benefit from independent leisure time reading. We conclude that shared book reading to preconventional readers may be part of a continuum of out-of-school reading experiences that facilitate children's language, reading, and spelling achievement throughout their development.     

THE EFFECT OF PRINT ACCESS ON READING FREQUENCY

Studies on reading motivation have found that access to reading materials has an important influence on the amount students choose to read. There are few studies, however, that have examined print access in a comprehensive way to include home, school, and community resources. In this study, surveys and reading tests were administered to a class of eleventh-grade students (N = 24). Consistent with previous research, convenient access to reading material, regardless of a student's reading ability, was associated with more frequent reading. In addition, more voluntary or "free" reading was associated with higher levels of reading proficiency. Implications for providing students with easier access to reading materials are discussed.     

Motivation for Reading and Upper Primary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Reading in Kenya

This study examined primary school students' reading motivation and performance on the standardized exam. Participants included 901 seventh and eighth grade students from Kenya. There were 468 females and 433 males. Contrary to previous studies, results showed reading challenge and aesthetics, but not efficacy, predicted reading achievement, indicating reading motivation may not influence achievement similarly across cultures. Gender differences were found in reading achievement but not motivation, an indication of a complex relationship between reading motivation and achievement. Students who read mostly for compliance and recognition did poorly in reading. Eighth graders did better in both reading motivation and achievement.     

Reading Anxiety: An Early Affective Impediment to Children’s Success in Reading

Learning to read is a critical but often challenging academic task for young children. In the current study, we explore the relation between children’s reading affect-–particularly anxiety-–and reading achievement in the early years of reading acquisition. We hypothesized that reading anxiety would relate to reading achievement across the school year and that boys and girls might show differential patterns in the relation between reading anxiety and achievement due to the common stereotype that boys underperform in reading. A sample of first and second grade students completed measures of reading anxiety, positive reading affect, math achievement, and reading achievement in the fall and spring. Results show that reading anxiety and reading achievement share a bi-directional relation in which fall reading anxiety predicts spring reading achievement and vice versa. Furthermore, the pattern of relation between reading anxiety and achievement differs by gender: boys appear more susceptible to the reciprocal damaging effects of reading anxiety on reading achievement across the school year. Finally, reading achievement shares a stronger relation with reading anxiety than with positive reading affect, perhaps because of the phenomenon in which negative relative to positive experiences have a greater psychological impact.     

Measuring up: Academic performance of Canadian immigrant children in reading,mathematics, and science

Using the Canadian sample from the Programme for International Student Assessment, this study examined the effects of student and school characteristics on academic achievement of immigrant and non-immigrant students. No differences were found in mathematics achievement, but non-immigrant students outperformed immigrant students in both reading and science achievement. At the student level, there was more gender equity in academic achievement among immigrant than non-immigrant students. Socioeconomic inequity was related to fathers among immigrant students but to both mothers and fathers among non-immigrant students. Home language had weaker effects among immigrant than non-immigrant students. At the school level, teacher-student ratio, teacher morale, and academic pressure were predictors for immigrant students, whereas disciplinary climate for non-immigrant students. Non-immigrant students demonstrated tremendous regional differences that were absent among immigrant students.     

毅力与学业成绩的关系：有意走神和自发走神的不同中介作用

以3372名5年级小学生为研究对象,采用毅力量表、有意走神和自发走神量表以及学业成绩测验,考察毅力（兴趣一致性和坚持努力）对学业成绩的影响,并检验有意走神和自发走神的中介作用。结果发现：（1）兴趣一致性和坚持努力均显著正向预测学业成绩;（2）有意走神、自发走神在兴趣一致性和坚持努力与学业成绩之间均起显著的中介作用,但两者的中介作用模式存在差异。有意走神在兴趣一致性和坚持努力与学业成绩间的中介作用不同：兴趣一致性负向影响有意走神,有意走神正向影响学业成绩,坚持努力正向影响有意走神,有意走神正向影响学业成绩;而自发走神在兴趣一致性和坚持努力对学业成绩预测的中介作用相同,即兴趣一致性和坚持努力均负向影响自发走神,自发走神负向影响学业成绩。     

Relation of personality dimensions to social and intellectual factors in children

In the course of the Hungarian adaptation of the JEPQ, using 2185 children, aged 7–15, the relation of the personality dimensions E, N, P, L to academic achievement, school marks for ‘behaviour’ and ‘diligence’, IQ, size of settlement, education and occupation of father and mother was investigated. High academic achievement was found to be associated with E, Emotional Stability, low P and low L scores. High IQ and high marks for ‘behaviour’ and ‘diligence’ were found to correlate with Emotional Stability and low P. Children from smaller settlements and from lower-status background were more introverted, had higher P scores, were more labile, and had higher L score means, than those from larger settlements and high-status families.     

READING ALOUD TO STUDENTS: A NATIONAL PROBABILITY STUDY OF CLASSROOM READING PRACTICES OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Elementary teachers have been encouraged to share literature with their students by reading to them daily and recommending books. Although such suggestions are common, little is known about the number of teachers who read to their students regularly and how often this practice occurs across the elementary grades. In this study, 1,874 elementary teachers were surveyed nationally to determine how often they read to their students. Teachers reported how many of the last ten school days they read to their students. Results include the finding that much more teacher reading of books to students occurs in the primary grades compared with the intermediate grades. Also, primary-grade teachers frequently read picture books to their students while intermediate grade teachers read chapter books most often. Informational books are not often read by teachers to students in any of the elementary grades. Discussion of the results centers around reading aloud in the primary and intermediate grades, picture and chapter-book reading, informational book reading, and introducing and recommending books.     

Effect of the Reread-Adapt and Answer-Comprehend Intervention on the Reading Achievement of Middle and High School Readers Who are Deaf

Two studies were conducted to determine if the Reread-Adapt and Answer-Comprehend (RAAC) repeated reading fluency intervention is effective in improving the reading achievement of deaf middle school and high school students. Participants included six middle school students and eight high school students. We found consistently good comprehension during the interventions sessions and consistent improvement in ability to read fluently increasingly more difficult passages in both studies. We also found statistical and practical significance for pre- and post-tests on the Woodcock-Johnson for reading comprehension for the high school students but not for the middle school students and no statistical significance for reading fluency in either study.     

初一学生人格特征、学习适应性与学习成绩关系的研究

以《中学生个性测验量表》和《学习适应性测验量表》为研究工具,以320名初一学生为被试,探讨初一学生个性因素、学习适应性与学习成绩的关系。结果发现,初一学生的个性特征、学习适应性与学习成绩都存在一定的相关关系;初一学生的个性因素中自控及情绪性因素和智力性因素对其学习成绩具有更好的预测作用,学习适应性因素中学习期望和家庭环境对其学习成绩具有较好的预测作用;研究同时认为,个性特征与学习适应性对初一学生学习成绩的影响可能是非常有限的。     

家庭作业与学业成绩的关系

家庭作业不仅是一种被广泛采用的教学手段,也是学生课后最为重要的学习活动。本文从家庭作业特征、家庭作业完成过程、家庭作业中父母参与和家庭作业对学习效果影响的机制几个方面探讨了家庭作业与学业成绩的关系。最后指出了家庭作业学习效果研究的实践价值和未来研究方向。     

Patterns of Association Among Multiple Motivations and Aspects of Achievement in Reading

The present study investigated the multivariate relationships between several aspects of motivation and achievement in reading. Canonical correlation analysis was used to examine patterns of associations for reading information texts in Phase I and for reading literary texts in Phase II. The samples were 923 and 225 seventh graders, respectively. Results revealed three multivariate patterns for information text, whereas one pattern was observed for literary text. An explanation for the difference between reading motivation for information text and literary text is provided based on distinctions between these genres. Additionally, findings showed that undermining motivations predicted students’ reading achievement more strongly than affirming motivations. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

小学生不同课堂情境的成就归因及再归因训练

在广泛调查的基础上,考察了小学生对不同课堂情境的成就归因特点;并运用韦纳的归因训练模式与策略指导相结合的方法,根据不同课堂的成就情境对小学生进行再归因训练。结果表明：小学生把课堂成就归因于努力、策略、能力、基础、兴趣、目的、难度。教法、心境和家境等１０个主要因素,这些因素除家境外,均在不同课堂的成就情境中存在显著的差异;韦纳的归因训练模式与策略指导相结合的再归因训练能有效地改变小学生对不同课堂情境的成就归因倾向,增强其学习动机水平,提高学业成绩。     

Exploring pathways from television viewing to academic achievement in school age children

The author's purpose in this study was to test 4 hypotheses that proposed different paths for the influences of children's television viewing on their academic achievement. Data were drawn from the 1997 Child Development Supplement (CDS) to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The population for this study included 1,203 children between the ages of 6 and 13 years from the CDS-PSID data set. The author used structural equation modeling to test pathways from children's television viewing to their academic achievement. The author assumed that children's television viewing hindered their academic achievement by reducing certain traits that related to academic achievement. Results showed that 3 hypothetical models fit the data--the time-displacement hypothesis, the mental effort-passivity hypothesis, and the attention-arousal hypothesis. A 4th hypothetical model, the learning-information hypothesis, which proposed that children's television viewing practices stimulate their academic achievement, was not supported. In sum, children who watched more television tended to spend less time doing homework, studying, and reading for leisure. In addition, their behaviors became more impulsive, which resulted in an eventual decrease in their academic achievement.     

Reading About AIDS and Cognitive Coping Style: Their Effects on Fear of AIDS and Homophobia

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of reading about AIDS on fear of AIDS, knowledge of AIDS, and homophobia. Introductory psychology students read one of three magazine articles: one stressing the low likelihood of contracting AIDS through casual contact (reassuring article), one stressing the high likelihood of contracting AIDS through casual contact (alarming article), or a control article that did not mention AIDS. Compared to the control group, subjects who read the reassuring article were lower in fear of AIDS, whereas subjects who read the alarming article were higher; the articles had no effect on knowledge of AIDS or homophobia. In addition, subjects were classified on the basis of their cognitive coping style (high vs. low monitors) and sex. High monitors tended to be more fearful of AIDS but were neither better informed about AIDS nor more homophobic than low monitors. Men were more fearful of AIDS and more homophobic than women.     

学习积极性的心理分析

学习积极性是学生在学习活动中的一种自觉的能动的心理状态。从儿童出生来到这个陌生的世界,他们就不断地和环境相互作用,接受客观现实中的各种刺激并作出相应的应答活动。随着年龄的增长和身心的发展,儿童对周围事物产生强烈的好奇心和旺盛的求知欲。但是,为什么在学校里,有的学生对学习表现出很大的积极性,有的学生却不愿意学习,觉得学习是个沉重的负担,毫无积极性呢?学生的学习积极性究竟从何而来呢?本文仅从心理学的角度对学生的学习积极性谈一谈个人的认识。     

个人取向勇气对中学生学业成就的影响:问题解决和求助应对方式的中介作用

采用整群抽样法选取山西、云南、重庆地区的1100名中学生作为研究对象,通过心理量表和学科测验获取其个人取向勇气、应对方式、学业成就的数据,探讨个人取向勇气对中学生学业成就的影响及其中介机制。结构方程建模结果表明：中学生的个人取向勇气与学业成就之间显著正相关,问题解决应对方式、求助应对方式在个人取向勇气影响中学生学业成就的过程中起中介作用。研究结果揭示了勇气水平较高的中学生更倾向采用问题解决和求助两种应对方式,从而取得较大的学业成就,这对中学教育工作者开展勇气品格培养和学业成就提升的教育实践有重要启示。     

Time perception: effects of introversion/extraversion and task interest.

32 extraverted and 32 introverted college students rated the interest value and estimated the duration of 3-min. intervals filled with reading. There were 3 dull and 3 interesting readings. It was hypothesized that time perceptions of extraverts and introverts would differ when their interest in the task was dissimilar. But no personality differences in time perception and few in interest were found; both extraverts and introverts judged the intervals to be shorter when the reading was interesting.