Christoph and Nystrand (2001) argue that teachers need to take pedagogical risks in order to realize a transformation from teaching monologically, where it is ultimately only the teacher's voice that matters, to teaching dialogically, where multiple voices collide to foster learning. The pedagogical risks of teaching dialogically include…

There are many environmental and personal factors that contribute to reading success. Reading comprehension is a complex interaction of language, sensory perception, memory, and motivational aspects. However, most existing assessment tools have not adequately reflected the complex nature of reading comprehension. Good assessment requires a…

Education researchers and policy makers agree that teachers differ in terms of quality and that quality matters for student achievement. Despite prodigious amounts of research, however, debate still persists about the causal relationship between specific teacher credentials and student achievement. In this paper, we use a rich administrative data…

Struggling readers may regularly worry about reading at an appropriate speed and intonation. Fluency is a "hot" topic according to Jack Cassidy's annual reading survey published in "Reading Today," in which he interviews various literacy experts throughout the United States on the hot and not-so-hot reading topics. Fluency…

When teachers move to the next grade with their students, they are sometimes referred to as teachers who loop with the children. In this descriptive case study, the authors describe the experiences of two teachers who collaborate with others as they move with a class of students from third to fourth grade (i.e., looping). The classroom context,…

Teachers can help minority children close the academic achievement gap in intermediate and middle school by combining literacy instruction and content-area material. This connection improves reading achievement and increases curriculum knowledge, even if students have previously experienced difficulty with primary school reading. Fortunately,…

The socioemotional factors, which influence students' trajectories on their pathways to reading success, are often overlooked in literacy screenings and reading instruction. This article outlines the connections between personality factors, in particular resilient personalities, and early literacy success. It also offers teachers a series of six…

This "Report Card to the Public" is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2011-2012. Under state law, each school district is required to report information about its plans and performance to its community. This report includes a statewide summary of performance results. It reports the status of public…

This book contains a collection of formal and informal reading assessments for use with students in Grades K-12. These assessments assist the teacher in targeting areas of strength and weakness, in monitoring student reading development, and in planning appropriate instruction. Unlike large-scale achievement tests, the majority of these…

The term "literature circle" refers to a classroom instructional strategy that connects all aspects of literacy for students with varied interests and levels of reading achievement. Although general education teachers commonly use literature circles, special education teachers have used this strategy much less frequently. Literature circles lend…

Professional development is very important for new teachers as well as experienced teachers as it helps them face challenges in the classroom and broader school culture. The types of professional development, key considerations and the involvement and impact on the teachers are discussed.

This study compared the influence of teacher and learner characteristics on general and special educators' predictions of student success. Two groups of teachers, 384 general educators and 384 special educators, reported year of experience and responded to case studies describing a student for whom gender, reading achievement, social behavior, and…

Students whose language, ethnicity, and race are not represented in a school's dominant culture experience varying degrees of success in reading achievement, resulting in persistent gaps in reading achievement. Culturally responsive instruction can help to close that gap. This teaching strategy capitalizes on the knowledge and literacy strategies…

Reviews the literature pertaining to the use of hypnosis in improving reading proficiency, describes a procedure teachers can use, and explains why they should use it. (FL)

Warns that college reading instructors must be aware that standardized tests do not measure the types of skills taught in reading classes. Argues that reading instructors need to develop an awareness of what the scores on standardized reading tests do and do not tell them. (RAE)