How can we best contribute to our students' reading development and achievement? What are the hallmarks of successful, independent student readers? An examination of reading curricula, reading assessment, and related Federal education policy reveals the ongoing emphasis on the cognitive strategies and skills of reading. The teaching and learning…

Against a background of increasing student eligibility for "access arrangements" in examinations for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), this article examines the processes within schools that structure a student's access to the provision of reading support, including staff and student viewpoints. Dominic Griffiths,…

Encouraging pleasure reading is not traditionally seen as the role of academic libraries. Those students who take time for reading, however, are better poised to succeed in college. Declining rates in reading among young people are cause for alarm, and many libraries at academic institutions are developing programs to promote this pastime. This…

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education issued a request for proposals (RFP) for programs to improve adolescent literacy. The Department's stated goal was to improve the performance of struggling adolescent readers and help build a strong scientific research base around specific strategies to help…

This study investigates the perceptions of Malaysian undergraduates of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) towards an online English for science and technology course in terms of their improvement in reading skills and strategies, their autonomy and their motivation. These three areas were used as the focal…

As with many districtwide reform efforts, the San Diego reform sought to improve classroom instruction by focusing on building the capacity of teachers. This article examines practices of teacher professional development in the district and their impact on literacy instruction. Through examination of the literature on effective professional…

Presents a case study in which one 9-year-old nonreader of English at a private school made progress in a 6-month remedial reading program. Describes strategies that may help other primary school teachers of English as a second language. Describes the process of instruction and highlights the implications of the findings. (SG)

Reports the results of a case study measuring the impact of reading aloud to a first grader over a period of one year. Notes the student made substantial gains in reading and writing by the end of the school year, and that the student became a voracious reader of poetry. (NH)

Helps show the journey of a teacher finding the path to good teaching and the ways in which she helped her student. Presents insights into teacher learning as well as some useful assessments and instructional techniques used with a child who struggled in reading and writing. (SG)

This monograph presents a case study of a Chapter I reading improvement intervention involving reciprocal teaching in Highland Park, Michigan, that was planned and executed during the 1993-1995 school years. Teachers and paraprofessionals taught reciprocal teaching strategies daily to third-grade students to prepare them for the fourth-grade state…

Tells a story of children with learning problems responding to scientific inquiry while practicing their literacy learning in ways their teachers never anticipated. Notes the students exhibited greater focus, more positive interactions, and a sustained interest. Suggests that the children not only learned scientific concepts, but also had many…

A study examined the reading strategies of a "reluctant reader," a bright and accomplished fifth grader whose achievements had not as yet included a love of reading or very good comprehension skills. Subject of the study, a female, was an excellent student at a private school where whole language, reading and writing groups, and…

Argues that national intervention endeavors should contain evaluation requirements that are sufficiently flexible to allow a range of rigorous evaluation designs. Uses the recent America Reads Challenge and research and evaluation efforts conducted independently at three university sites to illustrate the possibilities and pitfalls in engaging in…

Describes a case study of a sixth-grade student experiencing profound difficulties in learning to read, and the instructional intervention that helped him make significant progress. Comments on the public school's responsibility to provide effective remedial instruction. (SR)

Uses the metaphor of the "literacy club" to illustrate the re-making of three fifth-grade readers. Describes three children in jeopardy of being excluded from the literacy club and the steps that they and their teachers took. Looks at how their teachers started where the students were, used a variety of assessment measures, and offered supportive…