Teachers at Orlando Day Nursery in Florida have always evaluated how well their 4-year-old prekindergartners--most of them poor and African-American--could recognize letters, isolate sounds in words, understand stories read to them, and show other hallmarks of early literacy. Just as important, though, have been the teachers' formal observations…

Sparked by the Common Core State Standards, teachers and literacy experts are arguing about the role of a time-honored pillar of English/language arts instruction: classroom activities designed to help students understand what they are about to read. The attacks on--and defenses of--"prereading" are unfolding largely in cyberspace, through online…

The random and sometimes erratic nature of state proficiency standards makes for an assessment system that is "slipshod," obscure, and potentially unreliable, contends an outspoken think tank's analysis of the testing benchmarks set by 26 states. The range of expectations--3rd grade reading proficiency can mean performing at the 6th…

Both as an 8th grader, and a 10th grader, Johnny may be on track for mastering the advanced reading skills he will need to succeed in college and the workplace. But by high school graduation, he and many other aspiring college students will likely be unprepared to tackle the complex reading and writing tasks they will encounter, a study set for…