The conventional wisdom among educators and literacy gurus is that reading comprehension depends on the acquisition of isolatable, teachable, and generalizable skills. Consequently, many elementary and middle school English classrooms follow the "reading workshop" model, an approach to literacy instruction, with several variations that…

This qualitative study examined kindergarten children's responses to their favorite books and their perspectives on reading at home and school. Data included observations, interviews with teachers, parents, and children, and "My Favorite Book" response sheets completed by children. Children's favorite books reflected various genres,…

The ability to read, the single most important skill students need for learning, has been on the decline across the nation while student interest in books has also waned. Yet, despite the flagging interest in, and proficiency with, reading, English Language Arts (ELA) instruction has remained largely unchanged especially in grades 6-12. The…

In the United States, research on reading difficulties is predominantly carried out by scholars who project findings on L1 English reading difficulty to generalized difficulty in learning a second language (L2; e.g., Galuschka et al., 2020; Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2020; cf. Sparks, 2023). This research extrapolation creates a negative feedback…