Sharing concerns and interests of New York State educators in the improvement of literacy, this annual journal raises educational issues such as: empowering students' voices; responding to the call for higher standards by instructing and including all learners; using the Internet to promote literacy; and poetry as a powerful genre. Articles in the journal also present literacy research conducted using a variety of approaches, descriptions of college-community partnerships, and recommendations of multicultural books and favorite stories. Articles in the journal are "Conversations in the Margins: Reading Literature as a Democratic Process" (Gordon M. Pradl); "Participating in Student-Led Book Clubs: The Case of Jennifer" (Virginia J. Goatley and Jeanne Marie Levine); "Meeting the Challenge of Tougher Literacy Standards" (Sean A. Walmsley); "Performance Assessment and the English Language Arts Standards" (Peter Johnston); "Retention and Promotional Gates: Expensive and Ineffective Ideas Make a Comeback" (Richard Allington); "Children Betrayed" (Walter E. Sawyer and Jean C. Sawyer); "Promoting Literacy on the Internet: A Model Classroom Activity" (Dennis G. Mike); "'Poetry Is a Gift You Get and Never Out Grow': Sixth Graders Discovering Poetry" (Barbara Combs and others); "Comparing Story Reading and Textbook Reading: Middle-Level Readers' Understanding of Text" (Margaret Morgan); "What's a Researcher, Anyway?" (Ellen Adams); "Thoughts on Affirming Young Children's Literacy Efforts" (Mary Shea); "Learning to Read: The Miracle of Language" (Elizabeth Stever);"Project HOPE: A Collaborative Literacy Effort for Urban Youth" (Mary Rearick); "The Culture of Families and the Building of School-Home Connections" (Sema Brainin); "School-Based Practicum in Reading Disabilities" (Laura Klenk and Janice F. Almasi); "The Literacy Focused School: A University-School Collaboration Project" (Carol G. Hittleman); "Constructing Bridges to Literacy through Multiethnic Literature for Children" (Violet H. Harada); and "Something Old, Something New: Children's Literature Favorites" (New York State Reading Association Literature Committee). Individual articles contain references. (RS)