This document was prepared to assist literacy specialists in the national Regional Comprehensive Center network as they work with states to improve educational policy and practice in the area of adolescent literacy. It comprises three major parts: Part One: "Improving academic literacy instruction for students in grades 4-12." Based on…

Success in the 21st century, for individuals and societies, requires competence in comprehending and communicating in the academic disciplines--the natural sciences, history, geography, and more. The Read-Write Cycle (RWC) Project, a three year longitudinal research study conducted from 2005-2008 in ten public elementary schools in southern…

This article presents a lesson cycle of activities for teaching reading and writing skills for expository text. The lesson cycle consists of four parts: (1) vocabulary words, (2) text structures, (3) modified sentence completion activity, and (4) rewriting text. Sixth- and seventh-grade summer school students were taught to recognize and…

Without proficiency in content reading skills, seventh grade students were at risk of not being able to achieve understanding of what they read in non-fiction texts, a skill that is absolutely necessary for college-bound students. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate whether an approach that involved specific and focused…

In Single Subject preservice programs across the U.S., literacy professors are coping with the demands of preparing their candidates to teach reading and writing across the content areas. The professors are challenged to establish a credible rationale for why teachers in content areas such as physical education, art, and music should be required…

Reviews recent research on reading comprehension and textbook content and provides examples of several instructional strategies designed to aid students in understanding textbook passages. (JDH)

THE EFFECTIVE READER SHOULD DEVELOP WORD ATTACK SKILLS, AN ADEQUATE VOCABULARY, AND THE ABILITY TO ADJUST READING RATE TO THE PURPOSE FOR READING. THESE SKILLS ARE INTRODUCED AND REINFORCED AT EVERY GRADE LEVEL WITH INCREASING DEGREES OF REFINEMENT FROM YEAR TO YEAR BY BOTH READING TEACHERS AND CONTENT AREA TEACHERS. LESS OBVIOUS BUT EQUALLY VITAL…

Reports on a study to determine whether placement in a remedial English class is more effective than placement in a regular English class for enabling students who are beyond the acquisition phase of reading development to pass district minimal competency tests. Data support placement in the regular English class. (NH)

This document consists of worksheets used by the California Right to Read program. The worksheets include "Student Performance Data by Class,""Student Performance Data" (for a given grade), "Summary: Data on Reading Program,""Summary: Reading Methods,""Teacher Skill Assessment Form,""Skill…

Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…