The case of a 17-year-old deaf student serves as a means of identifying specific home and school supports that had facilitated robust language and literacy development across the life span. Data consist of observations of the student while reading and thinking aloud, as direct evidence of proficiency, as well as follow-up student and parent…

We constructed a new taxonomy for inferential thinking, a construct called Integrative Inferential Reasoning (IIR). IIR extends Pearson and Johnson's (1978) framework of "text-implicit" and "script-implicit" question-answer relations, and integrates several other prominent literacy theories to form a unified inferential…

Educators are always in search of approaches that promote student development and academic achievement. Engaging learners in purposeful instruction in skills and strategies is a cornerstone in every classroom. The gradual release of responsibility (GRR) model requires the responsibility of learning to shift from being teacher-centric towards…

Schools in the United States are making curricular changes from kindergarten through college to meet the Common Core State Standards' demands for higher expectations in reading and writing. As they make these important changes, however, they need not overturn all that they learned about effective reading pedagogy during No Child Left Behind…

In their 1985 report, "Becoming a Nation of Readers: The Report of the Commission on Reading," Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, and Wilkinson defined reading and proposed five principles that guide its successful enactment: (1) reading is a constructive process, (2) reading must be fluent, (3) reading must be strategic, (4) reading requires…

We investigated the relationship between Chichewa (L1) and English (L2) literacies in Malawi. Through our use of hierarchical linear modeling, we found that cross-language literacy transfer between Chichewa and English did occur, but that the pattern and the strength of the relationships varied depending on the literacy domain (i.e., reading or…

This study investigates the efficacy of an integrated science and literacy approach at the upper-elementary level. Teachers in 94 fourth grade classrooms in one Southern state participated. Half of the teachers taught the treatment unit, an integrated science-literacy unit on light and energy designed using a curriculum model that engages students…

In this article, we report on the results of a project devoted to improving literacy in South Africa's rural schools; specifically we report the results of an intervention study that centered on improving mother-tongue literacy instruction offered to learners in Grades 1 and 2 in South African schools. Our findings demonstrate that there are…

Discusses the current political situation in the United States and the ways in which literacy education, particularly reading education, has been socially constructed and politically situated in the last several years. Suggests that the policies educators are currently implementing will lead to a generation of teachers who pay homage to externally…

Characterizes the whole language movement in terms of its philosophical, political, and curriculum assumptions and consequences. Also, praises the movement for the good it has done; points out problematic features of the movement; and evaluates the likely legacy of the movement.(BB)

Synthesizes research on the basic processes and instructional factors that influence literacy development. Points out patterns of agreement and disagreement among literacy scholars and practitioners. Presents an agenda for reading research of the future. (RS)

The authors consider the role that multiple literacies and new literacies might play in shaping preservice education. They review existing literature on multiple and new literacies in preservice education and examine in-school and out-of-school enactments of new and multiple literacies to answer the question, What can we do in preservice teacher…

The authors gave the following talk at the 2004 NCTE Annual Convention in Indianapolis upon receiving the Alan C. Purves Award, presented to the RTE article from the previous volume year judged most likely to have an impact on classroom practice ("The Road to Participation: The Construction of a Literacy Practice in a Learning Community of…

Describes a year-long process in which a group of fourth- and fifth-grade students with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds learned to participate in reading, writing, and talking about books in a literature-based instructional program. Reveals a gradual release of responsibility from the teacher to students as they developed the knowledge…

Various formal and informal literacy assessment measures are described and evaluated in this report. Specifically, the extent to which such measures reflect or distort the literacy performance of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, or economic background is noted. Although the report supports a flexible approach to assessment--giving…