Can students read difficult but self-selected texts--and if so, how? In this article we describe what we learned about middle school students' use of background knowledge and specific vocabulary from interviews and surveys in our longitudinal study of magazine reading habits. Then we discuss the implications of these findings for structuring…

A recent decline in reading has become a major issue, as Americans are not reading out of necessity or as a leisure activity. In addition, a connection has been found between children's leisure reading habits and their level of academic achievement, causing even more concern. (Contains 1 table.)

Research on educational administration from the past 40 years emphasizes the principal as an instructional leader. However, the research community has done little to specifically examine what literacy knowledge and practices elementary principals need to possess or do regarding literacy teaching and learning. Because federal legislation has…

Over the last four years, East Coast High (a pseudonym), a midsized high school on the East Coast, has failed to meet adequate yearly progress targets in reading as set forth by the Department of Education (DOE) in response to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Each year, many students at East Coast High entered the library and chose a book they…

This study investigated the impact of literacy influences and perceived reading ability on the self-rated health (SRH) of 244 middle school students. Five literacy influences and reading ability independent variables resulted in moderate to substantial test-retest reliability [Kappas 46.6 to 63.8] over a two-week period. SRH served as the…

As college and workplace success becomes increasingly dependent on reading, parents and educators have become more interested in how to engage students in reading. Teachers at a rural Georgia high school have reported that students are reluctant to engage in academic reading. Guided by previous research on the factors that promote or discourage…

This article describes a pilot study conducted with 10 identified avid adolescent readers who completed the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP) (Pitcher, Albright, DeLaney, Walker, Seunarienesingh, & Moggie, 2007) that includes both a survey to determine students' self-concept and value of reading and an interview that sheds light on what…