Despite instructors' belief that class readings are integral to the learning process, only 20-30% of undergraduate students complete required readings. Failure to complete course reading has been associated with declines in exam and research performance. This article first offers a brief review of the literature on why students do not complete…

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 1996 President Clinton established the America Reads Challenge Act (1997), which included a commitment that every child will read independently and well by the end of third grade. This initiative was predicated on links between achievement and poverty (Riley, 1996, 2002) and that children reading below grade level in the early grades perform…

The art of reading refers to the act of representing and interpreting text through oral dramatic reading. To the dismay of many teachers, reading is becoming a "lost art." Students are expected to apply specific literacy techniques rather than use their imagination to learn to enact text. Based on a study of the reading perceptions of natural oral…

Shares four working generalizations on what it takes for middle school students with persistent reading difficulties to become successful readers: (1) access to materials that span the gamut of interests and difficulty levels; (2) opportunities to share reading experiences with teachers and classmates; (3) real purposes for reading; and (4)…

This paper examines the high levels of social connectedness and civic engagement between the [North] Brisbane School of Arts and the local metropolitan newspapers in their eagerness to establish and promote a reading club that would curb what they felt was the local community's preoccupation with reading popular novels. The Brisbane Literary…

The causal effects of a voluntary summer reading intervention on children's reading activities and reading achievement were assessed in a randomized experiment involving 331 children in Grades 1-5. Children were pretested in the spring on a standardized test of reading achievement (Stanford Achievement Test, 10th ed.), on the Elementary Reading…

Investigates the thoughts, judgements, and beliefs concerning literacy of two non-reading adults, parents of a son having reading difficulties. Discusses what was influential in improving the parents' willingness to attempt reading, and what happened as their perceptions of literacy evolved and changed. (SR)

Due in part to conflicting opinions and research results, the practice of sustained silent reading (SSR) in schools has been questioned. After a frustrating experience with SSR, the author of this article began a data-driven decision-making process to gain new insights on how to structure silent reading in a classroom, including a comparison…

Describes an innovative approach to the familiar structure of readers' workshop in which troubled adolescent males reexamined their early literacy experiences through the process of reading, listening to, and reacting to children's books. Notes that many of these readers came to see reading as a valuable life activity, a form of enjoyment, and…

Motivation is a rather persistent problem in guiding students to read well. If a student lacks motivation, a low energy level will be available for learning to read. Through motivation, a learner is encouraged to achieve definite goals in reading. Attention and retention by the student are important in recognizing new words whether the approach is…

Examines reading anxieties (and test anxieties) of students in two developmental college reading courses. Finds that group and individual anxiety reduction methods made a significant difference in the reading performance and attitudes of the adult basic education students. (RS)

Finds that the 35 middle-school language-arts teachers studied agreed that Self Selected Reading (SSR) is an important way to improve students' reading attitudes and achievement, but that their schools rarely provided funds for buying student-preferred materials, and that finding time for SSR was difficult because of the pressure to prepare for…

Reports on a study of grade 6 reluctant readers, identifying factors that served as barriers to the students' voluntary reading habits, finding them varied and complex. Points to several areas in which schools can promote voluntary reading, including choices in instructional reading, opportunities to read for enjoyment, and access to high-interest…

Examines the benefits of the Accelerated Reader program on English-as-a-second-language fourth and fifth grade students in a school in rural West North Carolina. Notes that anecdotal records provided evidence of improvement in students' reading behaviors and attitudes toward reading. Shows that while there was only a moderate overall increase in…