By way of reclamation of the metaphor "green," this paper contends that research regarding the relationships between children's literatures and cultures and environmental experience requires a reinvigorated consideration of the role of the visual. The heightened importance of visual texts is made evident via three primary, contemporary conditions…

The authors consider how the National Early Literacy Panel's decision to focus on identifying precursors to "conventional" literacy skills shaped the questions asked, conclusions drawn, and take-home message of the panel's 2008 report. They suggest that this approach may keep the field of literacy research from seeing and valuing other kinds of…

The author analyzes two texts, Gloria Whelan's "Homeless Bird" and Deborah Ellis's "Parvana's Journey", in an attempt to explain some of the problems and difficulties associated with those texts. The author examines Whelan's representations of India and finds troubling binaries associated with that text. In comparison, the…

This paper addresses my experience with a group of 11th grade students and their reading of The Grapes of Wrath (1939, 2002) by John Steinbeck. I questioned how the application of visual arts integration strategies, specifically the use of spontaneously created paintings, might influence the reader responses of my high school junior-level…

Our society is increasingly bombarded with visual imagery; therefore, it is important for educators to be knowledgeable about the elements of art and to use our knowledge to help students deepen their reading understanding. Arizpe & Styles (2003) noted that students must be prepared to work with imagery in the future at high levels of…

Doug Lederman's article, "Sports Subsidies Soar," discusses the issue on institutional subsidies for sports program. His article invites an obvious question: why are so many universities willing to subsidize athletics through either a direct transfer of institutional funds, assessing a dedicated student fee, or a combination of these? This…

This article presents the author's response to to W.G.K. Duncan's 1961 paper, "Agenda for a national association", in the first number of the "Australian Journal of Adult Education," the journal of the newly established Australian Association of Adult Education (AAAE). The brief has been interpreted in this way. Duncan viewed…

The author begins her comments on "Reviewing Adolescent Literacy Reports: Key Components and Critical Questions" by commending the authors for taking on this rather massive project. The project required not only locating and reading the many lengthy reports that exist on adolescent literacy but also sifting through the numerous claims, ideas, and…

In introducing the articles in this issue, Black and McCormick are struck by two features. The first is that they comprise a rich set of resources for stimulating further thinking about tertiary education. The second, which follows from the first, is that they raise possibilities for further development of this field. They draw attention, in…

This paper presents findings from a national project in England, The Power of Reading (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education), which has involved to date 41 projects over 5 years, in 16 Local Authorities nationally, with 900 schools and 1,350 teachers. The paper presents findings for the first 4 years. Our data demonstrate how professional…

In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, where acquisition of English is the ultimate goal, one of the main tasks for the teacher is to provide students with language input and activities that best aid them in their learning process. As different researchers have reported, including poetry-based activities in the EFL classroom is…

Studies on gender discourses in classrooms have specifically examined how students negotiate their individual gender identities while disregarding their lived realities within a historical context. Nevertheless, although it is difficult and uncomfortable for them, students' responses to discussing gender reveal that the discourse positively…

In this article, the authors comment on Andrew Coulson's "Comparing Public, Private, and Market Schools: The International Evidence." The authors believe that Coulson's paper is a very interesting review of the literature on the ability of market-produced education to outperform government-produced education. Coulson's response on this commentary…

In defending tests of cognitive abilities, knowledge, or skills (CAKS) from the skepticism of their "family members, friends, and neighbors" and aiding psychologists forced to defend tests from "myth and hearsay" in their own skeptical social networks (p. 215), Sackett, Borneman, and Connelly focused on evaluating validity coefficients, racial or…

Sacked, Borne man, and Connelly recently discussed several criticisms that are often raised against the use of cognitive tests in selection. One criticism concerns the issue of measurement bias in cognitive ability tests with respect to specific groups in society. Sacked et AL. (2008) stated that "absent additional information, one cannot…