Shows that both middle school and high school students improved in reading and writing as a result of a 55-day program which used newspapers and newspaper-based instruction as classroom supplements to traditional reading materials. (SR)

Discusses why (given the need and rationale for adolescent assessment, instruction, and support) it has been such a struggle over the years to develop and maintain strong adolescent reading programs. Looks at failures to understand and communicate, and budget battles. Argues that the Adolescent Literacy position statement of the International…

Based on research findings, informed opinions contained in the professional literature, and examples from school personnel of "what works," this report focuses on strategies that educators can use to improve secondary school students' reading skills and enhance interest in reading. Many of the strategies in the report are applicable…

Discusses "reading nightmares" of reading educators. Shares what junior high and senior high school content area teachers say about their own reading nightmares, in which they often feel unable or unwilling to teach reading in the content area. Argues that by viewing reading as a lifelong process, teachers can help students become better readers.…

Discusses a project and study that focused on literacy acquisition among middle school students from the Dominican Republic attending a school on Manhattan's lower East Side. Describes how a book writing project focusing on "stories from home" engaged students, taught them ways to discuss and ways to think, and fostered their literacy acquisition…

Describes a case study of a sixth-grade student experiencing profound difficulties in learning to read, and the instructional intervention that helped him make significant progress. Comments on the public school's responsibility to provide effective remedial instruction. (SR)

Describes a four-step instructional process that helps middle and secondary students become actively involved in their reading and provides a structure for main idea development in reading and writing. (HOD)

Encouraging inquiry into more reflective practice, this book invites English teachers to examine their ways of thinking, their relationship to the subject of English, their standards for good teaching, their place in the professional community, and their attitude toward time. The book offers guidelines for: helping students choose topics that are…

Argues that schools and teachers underestimate the demands that particular texts place on readers, especially as students reach middle school. Describes how the author uses think-alouds as one particular technique to actively give contextualized strategic knowledge over to students. Shows how this helps readers overcome their struggles to develop…

The literacy strategies in this guide provide practical suggestions for teachers, regardless of discipline, to help middle school and high school students move to Levels III and IV on the North Carolina End-of-Grade Reading/Competency Tests. The strategies in the guide are designed for use with "inefficient" readers (not nonreaders).…

Higher Horizons (HH) 100 is a program providing groups of 100 underachieving secondary school students in Hartford, Connecticut, with an integrated program of academic, cultural, and counseling services designed to develop and improve their basic skills in language and mathematics, self-concept, and adjustment to school. The eight small cluster…

The eight chapters in this book are designed to present a rationale for a developmental reading program in the middle school and to provide middle school teachers with concrete suggestions for teaching reading. The first two chapters present an overview of middle school philosophy and the rationale for providing reading instruction at that level.…

In the spring of 1979 and again in 1984, middle school and high school students who were participants in the Title I/Chapter 1 secondary school reading program in the Albuquerque Public Schools (NM), their parents, and regular classroom teachers completed questionnaires which helped provide information on their perceptions of the effectiveness of…

Reveals the phases through which an apathetic eighth-grade class of poor readers went on their way to becoming active learners. The phases included: (1) discussing attitudes and goals; (2) positive environment; (3) sharing literature through oral reading; (4) reading for an audience; and (5) active learning. (SKC)

Examines three strategies designed to help middle school students use text structures to comprehend expository text: (1) hierarchical summaries, (2) conceptual maps, and (3) thematic organizers. Summarizes advantages and disadvantages of each strategy and recommends that teachers consider the outcomes they want and select the most appropriate…