Adolescence is a critical time period when it comes to fostering lifelong interest and practices in reading, yet a decreasing number of middle school students are performing at Proficient and Advanced levels in reading. The purpose of this study was to examine whether providing middle school students with an increased level of choice in their…

The authors provide teachers with a rationale for engaging students in independent reading using a differentiated approach. By profiling types of readers, sharing observational tools, and offering teaching suggestions for each type of reader the authors give practical suggestions to facilitate reading engagement and make independent reading more…

To help raise the reading scores and attitudes of selected "at-risk" students from Thomas Jefferson, Springfield Gardens, and Franklin D. Roosevelt High Schools in New York City, a pilot study daily provided students with individual copies of the "New York Daily News" and integrated the use of the paper into regular…

Noting that many teachers may be moving gradually toward holistic teaching while still using many traditional materials and practices, this book presents a reading inventory that retains some traditional methods and descriptions as well as naturalistic assessment methods and descriptions that are more consistent with current thinking about…

Offering guidance on diagnostic and developmental techniques illustrated by examples from the classroom, this teacher's guide helps teachers to assess pupils' understanding and day-to-day progress in reading and to identify appropriate next steps to help pupils make progress. Topics explored in the teacher's guide include pupils' attitude and…

PIRLS is the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. This rigorous international survey compares the reading attainment and attitudes to reading of over 200,000 9- and 10-year-old children in 41 countries. It is the only international study to provide information on the reading habits of primary-aged children: the survey collects…

Originally developed for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on television viewing and reading is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an overview on the topic; the full text of…

Representing the expertise of university education professors and public school teachers, the articles in these proceedings focus on encouraging reading and fostering lifelong reading habits. Titles of the papers and their authors are as follows: (1) "Television and Books: Friends or Foes" (Jeannetta H. Caplan); (2) "Encouraging the…

In 1988, a study was conducted to determine whether a holistic or an isolated skills approach is more effective in improving the reading abilities and attitudes toward reading of predominantly Hispanic community college students. The study sample consisted of two groups of developmental reading students. The majority of students in both groups…

Race and socioeconomic class differences in children's reading performance are influenced by social and motivational factors. For example, children from poverty backgrounds are more likely to attribute success to conditions outside personal control, and thus do not experience as much pride in achievement as middle class students who have learned…

This book presents three narrative forms and two expository forms of an analytical reading inventory (ARI) that evaluates the processing strategies readers use as they read. Designed to be used as an individual analysis, the ARI presented in the book can help identify the reader's general level of word recognition; word recognition strengths and…

Noting recent research showing the considerable benefit in having carefully structured systems for parental involvement in reading, this book presents a review of past and current successful practices in this field. The chapters in the first part of the book discuss the context of international trends in parents' involvement in their children's…

A substantial body of reading research indicates that poor readers would become much more successful if teachers pretended that they were actually good readers. First, research suggests that teachers should provide poor readers with more silent and less oral reading time, thereby furnishing them with more reading experience that emphasizes meaning…

Drawing upon those aspects of "Becoming a Nation of Readers" directly relevant to classroom teachers, this booklet suggests ideas for classroom practices, based on research, that will improve students' reading achievement. The booklet is organized around five instructional themes: defining reading, reading readiness, beginning reading,…

Addressing the needs of English language learners, remedial readers, avid readers, gifted readers, dormant readers, reluctant readers, and readers in content areas, this book's goal is to help middle school teachers connect their students to reading. The book offers multiple lists of trade books that different types of middle school readers enjoy;…