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THE ROLE OF VISUAL SENSORY DEFICIENCIES IN THE CAUSATION READING DISABILITY IS DISCUSSED. PREVIOUS AND CURRENT RESEARCH STUDIES DEALING WITH SPECIFIC VISUAL PROBLEMS WHICH HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE NEGATIVELY RELATED TO SUCCESSFUL READING ACHIEVEMENT ARE LISTED--(1) FARSIGHTEDNESS, (2) ASTIGMATISM, (3) BINOCULAR INCOORDINATIONS, AND (4) FUSIONAL DIFFICULTIES. FOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SCHOOL CONCERNING VISUAL PROBLEMS AS APPLICABLE TO THE CLASSROOM TEACHER ARE CITED--(1) THE DETECTION OF VISUAL PROBLEMS, (2) THE REFERRAL OF THE CHILD TO THOSE PROFESSIONALLY QUALIFIED, (3) THE ADJUSTMENTS OF INSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE, METHODS, AND EXPECTATIONS BASED UPON THE NATURE AND SEVERITY OF THE VISUAL PROBLEM, AND (4) LEADERSHIP AND PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH. A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS INCLUDED. THIS ARTICLE IS PUBLISHED IN THE "JOURNAL OF READING," VOLUME 9, OCTOBER 1965. (MD)

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES, BY RACE AND SEX, OF SPECIFIC STUDENTS ENROLLED IN TWO RECENTLY INTEGRATED HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES IS REPORTED. SUBJECTS WERE 264 NINTH-GRADE PUPILS--140 NEGROES AND 124 CAUCASIANS. TO MEASURE READING INTERESTS AND CHOICE OF MATERIALS, A 40-ITEM QUESTIONNAIRE WAS CONSTRUCTED. SIX ITEMS MEASURED SOURCE OF READING, 34 ITEMS MEASURED READING INTERESTS. ANSWERS WERE CHOSEN FROM SIX CHOICES WHICH RANGED FROM LIKE VERY, VERY MUCH TO DISLIKE VERY, VERY MUCH. THE CALIFORNIA TEST OF MENTAL MATURITY, SHORT FORM, LEVEL 4, AND THE CALIFORNIA READING TEST, ADVANCED-FORM, WERE ADMINISTERED TO ALL PUPILS. CHI SQUARE WAS USED TO DETERMINE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORDER OF THE RANKS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VERBAL INTELLIGENCE AND READING VOCABULARY IN FAVOR OF THE CAUCASIAN STUDENTS. EIGHTEEN ITEMS ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE DIFFERED SIGNIFICANTLY. RESPONSES OF NEGROES APPEARED TO BE HEAVILY WEIGHTED IN POSITIVE-CHOICE CATEGORIES. CAUCASIAN RESPONSES WERE MORE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED. NEGRO PUPILS EXPRESSED STRONGER CHOICES FOR READING CURRENT MATERIAL AND STRONGER INTERESTS IN SOCIAL RELATIONS, ROMANCE, TEEN-AGE PROBLEMS, HUMOR, AND OCCUPATIONAL AREAS. OTHER FINDINGS, TABLES, CONCLUSIONS, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (BK)

The problem of teaching reading in English to Mexican American children with Spanish as their primary language is considered in this paper. Literature reviews are done on research dealing with (1) linguistics, (2) language-modification approaches, (3) linguistic approaches, (4) language-experience approaches, (5) bilingual education, and (6) teacher-school factors. Conclusions on the basis of research in these 6 areas are given. Also given are implications and specific directions for (1) basic research in language and reading processes, (2) normative descriptive studies of processes involved in reading, (3) pre-school educational research and leadership, (4) research in the teaching of English as a second language and bilingual education systems, and (5) basic and applied research into current school practices, conditions, and possible promising innovations. An 88-item bibliography is appended. (NQ)

Rather than labeling the poor or slow reader as "deficient, different, or drprived," and more recently, "perceptually or neurologically impaired," the reading teacher should educate himself to recognize, accept, nourish and channel the abilities and needs of his students. Suggested are several learning activities that can aid the teacher and be used to enhance the students' reading abilities--some of which include: (1) active manipulation of print, (2) use of printed messages which elicit active, immediate response, (3) rapid visual presentation of larger syntactic units rather than letters or single words, (4) writing out conversations, (5) cloze procedure for improving use of context clues, (6) grammatical substitutions, (7) prolonged sentence games interrelating multiple visual concepts into a major idea, (8) vocabulary practice, (9) reconstruction of scrambled words or syntax, (10) sentence interrelationships, and (11) unit-centered projects to provide "reading to learn experiences." These activities are intended to supplement existing developmental and corrective reading programs, and can provide students with the kinds of practice necessary to develop more fluent reading skills. (A bibliography is included.) (HS)

This annotated bibliography on language and reading instruction of Spanish-speaking children is divided into six major categories. The introductory section presents fundamental issues, broad concepts, basic understandings, and related areas that are of importance to an understanding of the major topic. Section 2, "Measuring and Appraising Intelligence," has been developed so that workers can have access to some experimental studies dealing with issues related to the appraisal of these abilities in Spanish-speaking children. Section 3 presents articles which deal with some specific factors involved in the acquisition of a second language. Many of the articles were selected for their relevance to the language arts teacher in her role as a teacher of Spanish-speaking children."Factors Pertaining to Reading Achievement," section 4, includes several studies but many more theoretical articles dealing with various issues pertaining to reading for Spanish-speaking children. The articles in section 5 are related to the concept and process of bilingual education as well as to justifications for various approaches. A number of research reviews and bibliographies are included in section 6 for individuals who wish to pursue this area of study beyond this annotated collection. (Author/WR)

The technique of factor analysis was used to explore the structure of five batteries of readiness tests (Gates Reading Readiness Test, Developmental Tests of Visual Perception, Metropolitan Readiness Tests, Specially Constructed Readiness Test by Olson, and Wechsler Intelligence for Children) as predictor variables for the Stanford Achievement Test, Primary I Battery. These tests were administered to 218 first-grade children. Four factors (Verbal-Conceptual Ability, Auditory-Visual Association, Specific Readiness, and Specific Perceptual Organization) were retained for rotation, employing the maxplane method. Intercorrelations among the oblique factors indicated a degree of interdependence between factors 1, 2, and 3. Among the findings were (1) that specific subtests from the Developmental Tests of Visual Perception and the Metropolitan Tests were found to make limited contributions to the prediction of reading achievement and (2) that the specific readiness factor and the specific perceptual organization factor were both independent of reading achievement. The need for further exploration similar to this study was suggested. Tables and references are included. (AW)

Three major areas of needed research in language and reading development for children of Spanish-speaking backgrounds are presented in a general overview. The first area of need is that of normative and descriptive studies of prelearning processes. This includes analyses of language base and home language behavior and is aimed at a more precise description of bilingual style. The second area of need is that of compensatory educational programs. These should be based on research and experimentation designed to determine language characteristics and needs. The third area of need is that of research in curriculum and materials modifications. Present curricula should be researched and evaluated, and new and innovative curricula should be designed which reflect research findings. An extensive bibliography of material reviewed is included. (MD)

A variety of factor analysis techniques were employed to explore the structure of five reading readiness instruments (Gates Reading Readiness Test, Developmental Tests of Visual Perception, Metropolitan Readiness Tests, Specially Constructed Readiness Test by Olson, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) as predictor variables of performance on the Stanford Achievement Test - Primary I, a commonly-used achievement test in reading at the first grade level. The identification of abilities that might underlie various readiness measures was of particular interest. The six instruments were administered to 218 first grade children representing a stratified sample of the socioeconomic make-up of three elementary schools in a southeastern city of 45,000 people. Four major factors were isolated: Verbal-Conceptual, Auditory-Visual Association, Specific Readiness, and Specific Perceptual Organization. These results are discussed in terms of previous reading readiness research. It is concluded that there continues to be a need for investigations of reading readiness constructs with the goal of further isolating those factors which seem most critical to specific reading behaviors at particular points in the developmental sequence. (PR)

Problems associated with teaching English language arts to Mexican American pupils are examined. Attention is given to curriculum considerations, methodologies, and innovations for effecting success in language arts development for these children. The four major strategies discussed include: (1) readying the child for the common curriculum, (2) second language learning, (3) reading instructional approaches, and (4) bilingual education. It is concluded that the solution appears to require: a commitment to the need for a newer way of thinking and working with these children and a feel for the problem; a changed approach to planning, decision-making, and teaching, resulting in a different teaching leadership style; and a broadening of the base of participation by opening society's institutions at all levels to all of its peoples. (SW)

Leadership in an egalitarian society is a contradiction in terms. Still, a collective has to be vocal in order to gain a bargaining position, and to have its identity reflected and accepted. This is not the least true for a marginalised society like När socken, on the Swedish island of Gotland. In this farming community of some 550 inhabitants - as on Gotland in general - there are, in the conventional sense of the word, no leaders to perform this presentation. However, the concept of spokesperson is well established. They are locally defined by the use of labels, which in turn are based on descriptions or adjectives like "firebrand", "nay-sayer", "good", "balanced" etc. I propose that this way of defining spokespersons is founded on a strong egalitarian notion and is best described as a semantic field, rather than in hierarchical terms. Throughout the centuries the geographical and social base for the individual spokesperson has been the farm or ensamgård, i.e. a group of economically, jurally, ritually, as well as spatially linked homesteads. Thus, the socken of När may be described as an example of a house-based society. Successively these ensamgård have given place to more individual farms and these in turn have become linked directly with the socken as such. Presently the socken itself has ceased to exist, at least as a formal unit within the administrative set-up of Sweden. Nevertheless, locally När socken continues to act as the prime key organising symbol. As such, När socken forms the prime focus for the processes of identity formation and the most important forum for passing information, decision-making and implementation. On the one hand, the individual farms, with links of kinship, neighbourhood, co-operation, and co-ownership, constitute the basis for the formation of social ties within the socken. On the other, such ties are also established by popular participation in an astounding amount of voluntary associations as well as quite a few projects benefiting the community as a whole. These are undertakings that mobilise the absolute majority of the population. These processes have here been summarised as När’s socken-democracy. To the outsider the projects are the most obvious result of localised popular participation. From a local point of view these projects are, apart from being socially and economically significant, primarily regarded as sources of enjoyment - the satisfaction of which is considered in itself the single most important reason to participate in any collective social action. När socken is successfully represented as a thoroughly dynamic "modern" industrious and thriving community. At the same time it is regionally regarded as one of the most traditional Gotlandic farming socken with all the connotations of a warm-embracing but also somewhat backward, marginalised community. These rather contradictory rhetoric tools are successfully employed by the spokespersons as they, in unison, represent the community. However, the spokespersons of När socken are not a homogenous group with a single goal. Local solidarity obscures the fact that the presentation is based on a complex process. One can find strong urges among farmers/farms not only to be good enough (duga) but to excel at the cost of one’s neighbours, there is also a continuos competition to define what is to be the dominant local paradigm. This way of consciously devising rhetorics and keep a firm line between the community and the outside may be interpreted as a result of an expressed need to come to terms with political and economic, as well as moral marginalisation of the individual and community. Still, these rhetorics do not directly determine the ways in which the community members interact on När or vice versa. Everyday practices, be they socialising or engaging in a project, answer to a felt need to smoothen out everyday community life. The duality of a symbolically constructed rhetoric identity and local practice may be regarded as complementary ways to construct a viable collective identity in an increasingly individualised and globalised world. The combination of rhetoric and practice can be seen as answers to the expressed local concern as how to make life in the margin a feasible proposition.