The traditional textbook model is problematic for students who either buy expensive textbooks and add to their already considerable student debt, opt out of buying expensive textbooks, or opt out of enrolling in courses known to require expensive textbooks. Switching to open textbooks directly addresses these problems by decreasing costs, removing…

In this study, I explore college students' perception of their experiences in developmental reading courses, whether they feel stigma, and if said stigma discourages them from engaging in behaviors that promote retention and lead to completion. I hope the research reveals how feelings of stigma relate to help-seeking behavior among college…

Due to the life-altering effects reading ability has on one's life, the public, government, and educators have a vested interest in understanding how reading acquisition occurs and is most effectively taught. The body of research termed the 'science of reading' shows that at least 92 percent of children can read at grade level when given…

Textbooks have been the subject of research within and across disciplines, but have not yet been widely studied from a disciplinary literacy perspective. Readerly agency is also understudied in disciplinary literacy. The present paper aims to illuminate both of these areas by examining facets of agency that readers demonstrated during think-aloud…

The purpose of this paper was to examine whether there is an effect of common reading program participation on first-year students' academic engagement, faculty interactions, and sense of belonging. Using a multi-institutional sample, propensity score matching, and linear regression techniques, the results suggest that common reading programs have…

This study investigated Arabic teachers' perceptions of the practice of extensive reading (ER) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study was conducted as part of an interdisciplinary research project at one of the largest higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country. The project aimed to develop and launch an Arabic online reading…

This study reports the knowledge of text complexity held by preservice teachers prior to coursework. The goal of this research is to determine what strengths and what learning needs preservice teachers have related to text selection with the intention of informing programmatic redesign. In this preliminary component of a design-development study,…

This article describes a literacy methods course designed to introduce reading specialist candidates to research-based practices for comprehension instruction. Specifically, this article focuses on a sequence of assignments and class sessions within that course that introduced theoretical perspectives about comprehension processes and how those…

Self-explanation practice is an effective method to support students in better understanding complex texts. This study focuses on automatically assessing the comprehension strategies employed by readers while understanding STEM texts. Data from 3 datasets (N = 11,833) with self-explanations annotated on different comprehension strategies (i.e.,…

The COVID-19 pandemic altered the ways that teacher educators could provide teacher candidates (TCs) with clinically-rich opportunities to build TCs' skills and self-efficacy related to teaching reading. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences of 19 TCs who participated in a semester-long virtual reading tutoring…

While the science of reading offers a powerful approach to literacy, implementing it can be both beneficial and challenging. This Spotlight will help readers identify how state leaders have approached reading policy implementation; review districts' experience moving to a 'knowledge-building' curriculum; evaluate best practices for teaching…

Critical reading requires a deep and active engagement with the text. The goal of this study was to empirically determine what critical reading skills faculty believe students should develop. We asked faculty to rate how useful they consider several critical reading behaviors and how often they model those behaviors in their classes. Faculty…

Purpose: There is a long-standing debate about how written words are recognized. Central to this debate is the role of phonology. The objective of this study is to contribute to our collective understanding regarding the role of phonology in written word recognition. Method: A total of 30 monolingual adults were tested using a novel written word…

Several past studies of EFL learners' reading strategies have focused either on the strategies they used for learning to read or on those they used for taking tests. However, studies that distinguish the reading strategies used by EFL learners for learning-to-read purposes from those used for test-taking purposes in the target language, and that…

Dialogic instruction, a form of instruction that engages students in meaningful and substantive classroom dialogue, has been shown to benefit students in many ways. However, few studies on dialogic instruction have focused on the role and agency of classroom teachers as they navigate and negotiate the vagaries of classroom talk, especially in…