Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

This study was conducted in order to identify the major reading, cognitive, and linguistic skills that contribute to individual differences in performance on the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) at third, seventh, and tenth grades. The authors were also interested in understanding the primary deficiencies in skill and knowledge that are associated with below grade level performance on the FCAT (levels 1 and 2). The expectation was that this knowledge would be helpful in planning more effective methods to prevent performance difficulties on the FCAT and more effective remedial procedures for students who have demonstrated deficiencies on the FCAT. The results provide substantial evidence for the construct validity of the FCAT test as a measure of reading comprehension in which the proportion of items that assess "higher order thinking skills" increases substantially from third through tenth grade. (Contains 6 tables and 3 figures.) [Preliminary report was prepared December, 2004, by the Florida Center for Reading Research.]

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert