Children's reading for pleasure is associated with significant academic and personal benefits and is widely recognised as an effective way to leverage social change, yet in schools this is not fully capitalised upon. The authors connect extant research in this area to the seminal concepts of Funds of Knowledge and Funds of Identity to advance the…

Strong reading and literacy skills are essential for students' success in K-12 and beyond by providing the foundation for understanding the world and communicating effectively. This Spotlight will help readers learn how classroom conversations can boost reading proficiency; identify research on how to get students absorbed in reading; examine…

The purpose of this mixed method study was to investigate the reading practices of pre-service teachers in the United States. A total of 395 (38 male and 357 female) pre-service teachers completed a self-reported survey. In addition, 45 (10 males and 35 females) of the 395 voluntarily agreed to participate in interviews and classroom observations.…

Existing literature acknowledges the potential variances between home and school in the values, priorities, aspirations, and practices surrounding literacy. Some researchers have approached this dilemma by offering programs to educate parents in ways of the school. Other researchers suggest that schools need to be more inclusive of home practices…

This study examines the effectiveness of minimally trained tutors providing a highly structured tutoring intervention for struggling readers. We screened students in Grades K-6 for participation in an after-school tutoring program. We randomly assigned those students not meeting the benchmark on a reading screening measure to either a tutoring…

The Big Lift™ (Big Lift) is a preschool-third-grade collective impact initiative in San Mateo County, California. The initiative is a partnership of the County of San Mateo, San Mateo County Office of Education, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Launched in 2012, the initiative aims to boost children's reading proficiency by third grade…

In the author's experience, a significant source of reading difficulty for many beginning and struggling readers are misconceptions about print concepts so basic teachers assume their students are aware of them. Many children fail to grasp implicit principles of print such as the following: the reader cannot make up the words, the order of letters…

Suggests that the assumption that the more gold stars collected, the more books read, and the more books read, the better the literary experience. Notes the absence of genuine literary involvement in simply gathering gold stars for books read. (RS)

This booklet contains a short summary of what scientific research says about how children learn to read and write. It also discusses things you can do with your child at three different grade levels -- kindergarten, first grade, and second and third grades. These activities will help the child become a reader. In addition, this booklet contains a…

Presents and discusses the results of a study of the reading habits of children aged ten and eleven. (JM)

Findings from a survey of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers to determine their personal reading habits are presented. For journal availability see SO 504 433. (Author/RM)

A school-wide reading campaign emphasized the joy of reading. (MKM)

Describes 30 years of promoting the good pleasure-reading habits of 530,000 Kansas children. (JM)

Discusses research methodology in general, and suggests ways of identifying what is and is not known in the field of reading. Points out that reading research has not yet investigated how adults and children read nonschool materials in nonschool settings. (ARH)

Relates anecdotes and vignettes that demonstrate the role of relationships in learning to read. Makes the point that learning to read, and learning to love reading, owe a great deal to the nature of the human relationships that occur around and through books. (SR)