The purpose of this study is to explore the literacy practices of mothers with refugee backgrounds and the ways that they position themselves in relation to these practices. Data include fieldnotes, interviews, artifacts, and informal conversations. The findings reveal the participants' family literacy practices within the specific domains of…

Motivation and engagement play a crucial role in literacy development and achievement. However, the construct of reading engagement has become blurred and ambiguous, both in research and in discussions of practice. In order to guide future research and to extend our existing understanding of reading engagement into classroom practice, this study…

This article explores the relative importance of different socio-demographic and practice-oriented factors that are related to proficiency in problem solving in technology-rich environments (PSTREs) and by extension may be related to complex problem solving (CPS). The empirical analysis focuses on the proficiency measurements of PSTRE made…

This essay offers a commentary on how the relationship between language and literacy practices in and out of school has been conceptualized. It draws upon two new books in the field. Shirley Brice Heath's new book, "Words at Work and Play: Three Decades in Family and Community Life," which makes use of rich ethnographic accounts of…

Americans are not just reading fewer books, but are reading less and less of everything, in any medium. This is the doleful conclusion of "To Read or Not to Read," a report recently released by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Subtitled "A Question of National Consequence," the report piles on the bad news delivered…

The theme for the 58th annual conference of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) was Bridging Cultures Through Literacy. In the first section of the Yearbook, Parker Fawson's presidential address captures the unique nature of ALER and its role in his professional development, and then moved beyond to capture the changing…

This paper contains excerpts from a report by the National Endowment for the Arts, issued by its Office of Research, headed by Mark Bauerlein, a contributor to "Arts Education Policy Review." The excerpts do not include the report's tables, figures, or appendices, but numbers have been retained in their original sequence (see notes).

To raise the literacy achievement of secondary school students, some schools train their whole faculties in general reading and writing strategies to implement across the curriculum. Content-area teachers often resist this approach, however, fearing that setting aside time for literacy instruction will dilute the academic rigor of mathematics,…

Reviews research on the average reading level in the United States, on how well the average American needs to read, and on what the average American can and does read. (MKM)