The "elephant in the room" when we talk about preparing critical thinkers for the 21st century, Gallagher believes, is U.S. students' lack of reading proficiency and their general disinclination to read. Gallagher's provocative argument is that a significant factor behind the decline of reading in young people is a set of practices…

Reading fluency has taken a front seat in discussions about student reading success and effective instruction in reading. The dimensions of reading fluency is discussed, which indicates that it is an important factor in reading education.

The false claims about reading and reading instruction made by the 2000 National Reading Panel (NRP) are presented. Sufficient evidences to challenge all the claims made by NRP are also highlighted.

For schools to effectively teach literacy, they should work with, not against, the cultural tools that students bring to school. Outside school, students' lives are immersed in visually mediated narratives. By tapping into the cultural, artistic, and linguistic resources of popular culture and multimedia, teachers can create more willing readers…

Explicit directions about what to seek in a text will help students to tackle difficult assignments. Teachers will have to clarify the meaning behind the mission while helping students master challenging texts and will also have to improve comprehension by explicitly identifying what information students need to absorb from a text.

Vocabulary is the hallmark of an educated person as it not only promotes reading comprehension but also enables to actively participate in the society. The four practices that teachers can use to expand students' vocabularies and improve their reading are presented.

If taught well, reading instruction can have a positive effect on kindergarten children. (Author/MLF)

The National Reading Panel's report on reading instruction placed too much emphasis on systematic phonics. The effectiveness of systematic phonics is presented with a comprehensive framework so that there is a clear implication for institutional practice.

A description of elements that most reading experts would endorse as part of a sound instructional program in reading. (Author/MLF)

The author contends that the mastery learning model should be eyed cautiously as a risky way to teach reading and writing. (Author/MLF)

In Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI) classrooms, teachers are given directives for teaching and testing literal, inferential, critical, and creative comprehension to help students understand what they read. (Author/MLF)

Describes how to teach students to use questioning techniques to read and evaluate websites on the Internet. Provides examples of "digital textbooks" on teacher-designed website. (PKP)

After replacing its basal readers with a literature series, Tucson (Arizona) schools piloted a study group approach supporting long-term, innovative changes in reading instruction. Study groups gave teachers the chance to consider their beliefs, share ideas, challenge current practices, blend theory and practice, identify professional and personal…

Research conducted with a sample of 86 classroom teachers concerning the teaching of reading suggests that the needs they report must be analyzed by objective means to determine the underlying conditions that result in expression of the symptoms. (Author/MLF)