Discusses results of a survey of youth experts who work with or for teens in libraries, schools, and other areas to determine the most important issues affecting youth. Highlights include intellectual freedom; information access; reading; literacy; social issues, including youth violence; teen culture, including Internet chat; education issues;…

Finds that reading comprehension and attitudes toward reading were significantly improved when second- and third-grade delayed readers participated in a 10-week cognitive apprenticeship in reading involving an adult volunteer reading partner, who scaffolded the reading experience to enable the student to accomplish the authentic task of reading a…

A study of 60 successful males and females with reading disabilities found both genders developed high level literacy skills through avid reading of high interest texts, females were more likely to be discouraged from pursuing academic interests, and both genders were discouraged from pursuing mathematics and science. (Contains references.)…

CD-ROMs and Web sites that have logical links to books on appealing topics can entice boys to read for fun and information. Research and professional experience tells us that boys are more enthusiastic technology users and less avid readers than girls are. The software and books listed are appropriate for children from kindergarten through high…

Reviews research on the development of attitudes toward reading to investigate the idea that as children get older, their interest in reading declines. Highlights include research methodology; attitudes toward recreational reading; reading at home; reading autobiographies; and the need to provide interesting books to children. (LRW)

Examines factors influencing the reading engagement of 24 struggling, resistant readers in grade 3 through 5 who were tutored by university graduate and undergraduate students. Notes that all students made great strides in reading achievement and in voluntary reading motivation. Finds the most salient factor in increasing reading motivation was…

Determines elementary teachers' knowledge of: current children's literature; children's books in six literary genres; and activities to promote students' recreational reading. Replicates a 1981 study to determine the level of knowledge possessed by today's teachers concerning children's literature and methods of increasing students' reading for…

This article outlines how educators can provide appropriate resources for encouraging the love of reading, support strategies that motivate reading, promote the joy of reading across the curriculum, provide a balanced curriculum representing both lifetime literacy and skills instruction, and foster lifelong literacy in students who struggle with…

Describes a strategy adaptable to middle school, high school, and college levels that helps to motivate students to want to read and gain information; promotes discussion and fosters students' learning from one another; helps below-grade-level readers understand content; and encourages higher order thinking. (SR)

Uses students as primary informants about what motivates them to read in their middle school classrooms. Finds students valued independent reading and the teacher reading aloud; and they emphasized quality and diversity of reading materials rather than classroom setting or other people. Considers the access to reading materials in the classroom…

The use of interactive storybooks in the primary classroom has the potential to facilitate pupils reading, in small groups or individually. However, critics have expressed concern at the exposure of pupils to interactive storybooks. In particular, concern has been expressed that the interactive animations and sound effects in such storybooks may…

Five popular, but distinctly different, remedial reading programs were reviewed regarding the potential to motivate children to read. It is argued that current remedial reading program designs and research on program effectiveness ignore the impact that motivation has on struggling readers. In addition, we develop a theory of reading motivation…

A high school teacher has used a novel by Stephen King as her end-of-the-year literature unit to teach her students. She suggests how this selection helps in achieving her goals to get students to practice reading and discussing literature and to apply these skills beyond the English classroom.

The purpose of this case study was to explore a middle school student's emotions in the tutoring context in order to better understand the "struggles"faced by a struggling reader. Through cognitive explanations of emotions, the researcher identified aspects of tutoring that influenced Mitchell's feelings of enjoyment, pride, and success. These…

This column focuses on reading engagement by first discussing the concept then suggesting ways that teacher-librarians can lead initiatives in their schools towards this goal. While the concepts: (1) reading engagement; (2) motivation to read; and (3) interest and voluntary reading are interconnected, it is important to understand their…