Proposes that literary analysis and criticism need to strike a balance between reader and text, between subjectivity and objectivity. Notes that literary works call for different critical approaches and urges English teachers to develop students' skills for apprehending what approach should be used with particular works. (JT)

This article, (presented by the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association) discusses a position statement adopted in April 1979, which states, in part, that no single measure or method of assessment of minimum competencies should ever be the sole criterion for graduation or promotion of a student. (DD)

Encourages language arts teachers to give students more opportunities to write in order to develop both their reading and their writing skills. (DD)

Compares and contrasts the direct teaching of reading and the functional teaching of reading in a content area and indicates that a content area focus may facilitate the learning of reading skills. (TJ)

Argues that a successful foreign-language literature class is one in which the instructor enables the students to exercise their critical thinking skills in interpreting a text. By applying cognitive skills in a systematic manner when analyzing literary works, students learn to substantiate their interpretations through well-reasoned arguments and…

Presents a panel discussion of five eminent educators (Ira Aaron, Jeanne Chall, Dolores Durkin, Kenneth Goodman, and Dorothy Strickland) on a variety of issues in literacy education, including the politics of literacy education and the challenges facing literacy educators in years to come. (MG)

Describes a multimedia project that combined text, pictures, and sound and found that the students could reinforce their reading and writing skills by using a word processor, recording their writing, and drawing pictures. Suggests that teachers have been using multimedia for years and should not be intimidated by the thought of it. (JOW)

This study with 32 primary school children (ages 6 and 8) confirms that children read words better in context but concludes that the use of context as a routine way of compensating for poor decoding skills may lead to future reading difficulties. (DB)

Outlines an approach to text graphing through describing four types of graphs: sunburst, matrix, tree structure, and flow chart. The graphing types are then matched to 12 text types. Text graphing realizes the possibilities for enhancing instruction using insights provided by educational research in schema theory and metacognition. (15 references)…

Takes a look at reading assessment in the third-grade classroom of Susan Kane at Ferncrest Elementary School. Describes some of the balances that she has achieved in reading assessment, and discusses the challenges that remain. (SR)

Redefines literacy and questions the presumption that college students already have it. Discusses Deborah Brandt's "Literacy as Involvement: The Acts of Writers, Readers, and Texts" to place literacy in a social context. Discusses J. Elspeth Stuckey's "The Violence of Literacy" which takes a strong position against regarding…

Challenges three basic claims about the scientific "database" concerning rhyme and analogy in reading made in another article in this journal: (1) the relationship between rhyme and reading remains controversial; (2) there is doubt about the relevance of children's ability to make orthographic analogies for classroom reading instruction; and (3)…

Former member of the National Reading Panel criticizes the composition, deliberations, and decisions of the panel, authorized by Congress in 1997, leading to its April 2000 report supporting the hierarchy-of-skills reading model. (PKP)

The recent findings on the prevention and remediation of reading failure are overlooked. A multitiered approach involving high quality classroom instruction and small group interventions can substantially reduce the proportion of students who struggle to read.

This article comments on the discussion of S. A. Storch and G. J. Whitehurst's literacy development model in the article by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Child Care Research Network (ECCRN). Specifically, this comment focuses on concerns raised by the NICHD ECCRN that Storch and Whitehurst's model does…