This volume is a milestone year for the Yearbook, the conference, and the College Reading Association (CRA). At this conference, CRA celebrated its 50th year. The title of this thirty-first yearbook mirrors the theme of the 2008 conference--"Mentoring Literacy Professionals for 50 Years." The title "Mentoring Literacy Professionals:…

This report describes strategies for increasing levels of interest in reading for enjoyment. The targeted population consisted of first, second, and third grade students in three elementary school districts. The schools were located in middle class and affluent suburban communities of a large city in the Midwest. The problem of lack of interest in…

Using a literacy project as illustration, I make a case for action research as an approach for external innovators who seek to effect educational change. Collaboration between the innovator and those for whom the innovation is intended, rather than power, is the key ingredient in bringing about change. Clients must be actively involved at all…

This report describes a research study in which motivational strategies were used to increase student enjoyment of reading and to foster a life-long love of reading. The targeted populations consisted of primary and middle grade students in three different urban midwestern settings. The problem of motivating students to read was documented through…

A study investigated the effectiveness of a program for improving the recreational reading habits of fifth-grade students and encouraging them to become lifelong readers. The targeted population lived in a growing, low- to upper-middle-class, suburban community, located in Hanover Park, approximately 35 miles west of Chicago, Illinois. Students in…

An action research project described a program for improving elementary children's recreational reading habits through a combination of modeling by the teacher plus incentives to enhance students' intrinsic motivation to read for enjoyment. The targeted population consisted of three suburban public schools, grades 2 and 4. Analysis of probable…

This research intended to describe interventions to enhance students' motivation to read for enjoyment. Students' personal reasons for reading may include curiosity, social involvements, emotional satisfaction and/or necessity. Other reasons for reading may include: sustained involvement; challenge; compliance; recognition; competition; and work…

This report describes a program for increasing levels of leisure time reading and heightened awareness of age and ability appropriate literature with an effort to encourage targeted students in grades 2, 3, and 6 to become lifelong readers. The targeted population lives in a growing rural, low to upper middle class community located in north…

This paper describes a program intended to motivate elementary students to read for recreational purposes. The targeted population consists of first-, second-, and third-grade students in a growing middle class community located in the south suburban area of Chicago, Illinois. The problem of students' attitudes toward recreational reading was…

This report describes a plan for motivating students to read in order to allow them to enjoy and appreciate literature and to provide the practice necessary to become effective readers. The targeted population consisted of first and fourth grade students in a middle class community, located in the Middle West. The problems of minimal time engaged…