This qualitative study investigated high school reading programs and participants focusing on the insider perspectives of teachers and their students. The study occurred in two sites, one in a Southern state and the other in an Eastern state. The participants, five high school reading teachers and two to three students in each of their reading…

Many community college students are entering college-level courses underprepared for the critical literacy and critical thinking skills required to be successful in discipline courses (Tsui, 2002). Discipline faculty are considered experts in their content area and are often not trained in pedagogy and literacy instruction, yet they are faced with…

The present study examined middle school teachers' perceptions of literacy demands in their disciplines and specific literacy strategies they used to teach their disciplines. The eight participants in this multiple case study included 2 middle school teachers from each of 4 disciplines (i.e., English/language arts, science, social studies, and…

Teacher professional development has been identified as essential to educational reform. Moreover, research suggests the power of inquiry communities in spurring teacher professional learning and shifts in classroom practice. However, not enough is known about what conditions within a community of inquiry might be necessary to inspire, support,…

Prior studies indicate that vocational students' literacy practices are more demanding than is generally recognised. Employing a view of literacy acquisition as socialisation, we investigated the literacy practices of trades training in Carpentry and Automotive Technology, by interviewing tutors and examined course books and student writing. A…

The purpose of this paper is to take a closer look at the states that have designed strong history standards and note what has made them exceptional so other states might do the same. They include Alabama, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and South Carolina. The report draws on interviews with individuals from each state who sat on…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards in order to teach literacy skills throughout the content areas. Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their…

In spite of national initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, American students continue to be struggling readers. Research on content area reading strategies (CARS) has shown that such strategies increase students' ability to read and comprehend text. The purpose of this research was to assess agricultural educators'…

This study examined differences in perceptions of content area teachers receiving literacy coaching and teachers receiving no literacy coaching regarding implementation of literacy instruction. It also examined student achievement on standardized tests relative to literacy coaching. A survey measured teachers' perceptions regarding their…

Supported electronic text (eText), or text altered to provide support, may promote comprehension of science content for students with disabilities. According to the Center for Applied Special Technology, Book Builder™ uses supported eText to promote reading for meaning for all students. Students with autism spectrum disorder experience difficulty…

This article presents two innovative tools--the Mathematics-Literacy Planning Framework and Mathematics-Literacy Implementation Checklist--which are designed to help instructional coaches and specialists support teachers to meet the challenges of the mathematics-literacy integration goals of the Common Core. Developed with teacher input, these…

Nationally, two-thirds of high school students are unable to read and comprehend complex academic materials, think critically about texts, and synthesize information from multiple sources, or communicate what they have learned. Without a substantial change in their academic literacy, U.S. high school students face continued academic problems in…

"Leading for Literacy" provides tools and real-life examples to expand the benefits of a literacy approach that sparks students' engaged reading and thinking across disciplines, from middle school through community college. A companion to the landmark "Reading for Understanding," this book guides teachers, leaders, and…

Textbooks play an important role in undergraduate mathematics courses and have the potential to impact student learning. However, there have been few studies that describe students' textbook use in detail. In this study, 1156 undergraduate students in introductory mathematics classes were surveyed, and asked to describe how they used their…

Reading is an essential skill in education and the current technologically-driven workforce, yet it is a skill that is not mastered by all. Secondary students in a school district in central Alabama have demonstrated a low mastery rate on the reading portion of a standardized test. This quantitative research study used a non-experimental…