To promote independent reading in middle school, teachers must understand why adolescents choose to read or not read a specific book. Yet, there is limited research on the factors that students consider when evaluating books that teachers have introduced them to in class. This study aimed to describe factors that 43 Grade 7 and 8 students noted as…

The influence of motivation on readers' behaviors has received wide attention in literacy scholarship. The importance of readers' motivations for reading becomes critical when considered in relation to readers' engagement with reading activities and their perceptions of themselves a competent. This article presents a qualitative study of…

The consequences of lack of reading and poor reading skills are problematic for all students, regardless of background; however, for middle grade striving readers with academic difficulties these problems can lead to lower self-efficacy and motivation to engage in literacy tasks. Using the perspectives of urban, middle grade special education…

The introduction of Common Core State Standards has many middle grade school teachers concerned with implementing standards while retaining student reading engagement and motivation strategies. This study analyzes the effectiveness of providing social networking strategies in online book discussion groups on enhancing middle grade student reading…

"Reading maturity" is a construct that looks broadly at reading development encompassing not only basic reading skills but reading habits, attitudes, and dispositions. It has a rich history and this article calls for a need to make reading maturity a necessary part of the literacy curriculum. It offers a working description and reviews…

This article describes our collaborative inquiry, three teacher educators/researchers of literacy from different institutions who shared a concern about how few teacher candidates in our programs neither viewed themselves as readers nor possessed a love of reading, qualities we view as key to supporting all children as lifelong readers, writers,…

Reports a study which compared results obtained from two methods of data collection used to evaluate children's reading interests--the annotated titles approach and the approach using children's reactions to books they have examined. (JM)

Discusses assumptions about students' attitudes toward reading, the nature of those attitudes, and techniques for measuring them. (FL)

Reviews research findings that suggest that literacy is nearly universal and that interest in reading is at an all-time high in the United States. (FL)

We examined the reading interest and behavior of students in one rural (n = 664) and one inner-city (n = 510) middle school. Responses to the questionnaire indicated that in general, middle school students are not interested in reading and spend very little time engaged in various reading activities. Further analysis of the data showed differences…

Details a study that asked both elementary school students and teachers to state the most important reasons for reading. Reports that both students and teachers gave gaining knowledge as the most important reason for reading. (FL)

Points out that the reading customs and routines that are established in younger life continue, for the most part, into retirement years. Argues that reading teachers should examine their daily reading activities in light of what they are doing to prepare readers of the future. (FL)

Reports that, when challenged with interesting reading materials, superior elementary school students demonstrated "reserves" of reading comprehension power--an affect not found in average readers. (FL)

Reports on a study which examined reading lists of Native and non-Native students in one Alaskan school to determine whether Native children prefer books about Alaskan people. Findings indicate that both groups choose high quality books, regardless of cultural content. (ARH)

Suggests that, rather than ignoring the enormous interest of children for joke and riddle books, educators can take advantage of humor's natural attraction by using it to involve children in reading and to provide worthwhile learning experiences. Discusses humor as an instructional tool, classroom use of joke and riddle books, and teacher…