Examines the real-world literacy contexts in which children find themselves. Discusses research at multiple sites over five years looking at how teachers struggle day by day to work out how to acknowledge and build on the language and cultural diversity of the students in their schools. Explores and illustrates four distinct "constructions" of…

Uses the metaphor of the "literacy club" to illustrate the re-making of three fifth-grade readers. Describes three children in jeopardy of being excluded from the literacy club and the steps that they and their teachers took. Looks at how their teachers started where the students were, used a variety of assessment measures, and offered supportive…

Examines the discrepancies in engagement that arose when the teachers' instructional and the students' personal stances (regarding the intents and purposes of literacy) are misaligned during literacy events. Discusses the ways in which instructional and personal stances encourage and/or discourage engagement. Considers the opportunity to construct…

A study examined the reading behaviors of college students--in particular it asked why aliteracy occurs among college students. A survey designed to identify the aliterate population was administered to a psychology class of 40 students from a variety of majors, and included both genders, some ethnic variety (mostly Anglo), and a range of ages.…

A study collected baseline data which measured students' attitudes toward reading in academic and recreational settings; determined if reading attitudes in academic and recreational settings changed over time; and investigated whether difference in attitudes toward reading exist between grades or when students were grouped by sex. Subjects were…

This paper describes a practicum designed to give 12 low-achieving first-grade children more time to improve their communication skills, to promote knowledge development, and to motivate children to become enthusiastic about the reading and writing process. Whole language, creative drama, and different styles of writing were utilized in the…

A study examined the masculinity/femininity attitude of students toward reading and writing. Subjects, 91 young adults and adults in high school, adult high school, and community college remedial classes in the fall and spring of the 1994-1995 school year, completed the Mazurkiewicz Masculine Feminine Attitude Survey. Results indicated no…

A practicum targeted a need to develop and improve student attitudes toward reading for fun and pleasure. The target group was 30 second-grade pull-out Chapter 1 reading students identified as primarily non-leisure-time readers based on a student/teacher interview questionnaire. A pre- and post-reading attitude survey was administered. Parents of…

A study investigated the relationship between beliefs and attitudes toward reading and writing, and the effect of personal journal writing on attitudes and beliefs. Subjects, four intact classes of 95 fourth-grade students enrolled in two public schools in a southeastern metropolitan area, were randomly selected to participate in the study. In…

The effectiveness of using volunteer reading tutors to work with students with reading difficulties was examined. Changes in academic engaged time, active responding time, achievement, and student attitude were assessed, along with information from tutor evaluations. Nine intervention and 8 control students (grades 3-5) with mild handicaps…

A study was conducted to determine the attitudes of teachers and students toward a program of uninterrupted sustained silent reading (USSR) operating in their school. The 14 teachers and 136 students in grades three through six were questioned about their attitudes toward the program. Teachers were also asked for opinions about USSR's effect on…

Learning to Read Through the Arts offers intensive reading instruction to Chapter I eligible students through the integration of a total reading program with a total arts program. In 1983-84, the program was offered to a total of 625 general education students, 140 bilingual students, and 100 special education students (all in grades 2-6). Reading…

The research on the effect of attitudes on reading is reviewed in this paper to support the position that the affective part of learning is as important to learning to read well as are the cognitive skills. Suggestions for improving reading attitudes are given. Activities are suggested for five forms of creative reading: (1) model imitations, in…

Eighty-one fifth grade students from a suburban parochial school were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups in a study designed to determine the effect of daily sustained silent reading (SSR) on student reading habits and attitudes toward reading. One teacher supervised 40 students in daily fifteen-minute periods of SSR, using…

Fifteen high school English teachers and 544 students in their classes participated in a study to determine how well teachers assess student reading habits and attitudes and to compare the accuracy of their judgments with those of student-peers. Each student was administered a measure of reading ability and of reading attitude; additional data…