The authors, members of the PISA/PIRLS Task Force, provide a summary of major gender differences in performance found overall on PISA 2009, along with relevant trends since 2000. The five countries represented by the authors are highlighted in this summary, which includes findings related to the interaction of engagement and reading literacy…

Within the past few years literacy scholars have begun voicing serious doubts on theoretical and practical grounds about the efficacy of the longstanding notion that every teacher is a teacher of reading. In this commentary, we add our voices to the conversation around content area literacy as well as offer our perspectives on the recent calls for…

National surveys reveal that graphic novels are perhaps the most popular recreational reading choice for adolescents--especially among boys. Graphic novels cover numerous topics, and this variety, along with their enormous popularity, makes them enticing and useful resources for teaching and learning in virtually any classroom. Since the…

It is difficult to deny that many U.S. middle and high school students are in need of special literacy supports. Several indicators of declining literacy achievement have shifted national attention toward struggling and striving adolescent readers. More than ever, secondary schools are under enormous pressure to find ways of improving performance…

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a global effort to assess reading literacy. The authors of this article focus on the variable of engagement--the student characteristic on PISA that had the largest correlation with achievement in reading. Next, salient findings related to engagement from three English-speaking PISA…

This article provides an overview of research about how teachers, parents, and others can help young people develop literacy practices for success in school and life beyond school. The authors, members of the International Reading Association's Commission on Adolescent Literacy, present the results of its review of the literature in the form of…

Describes how subject area teachers at one high school used grant money to change their teaching styles, significantly improving students' reading abilities. Details how reading achievement testing was conducted and the results were translated into effective literacy reforms designed to go beyond "teaching to the middle." Tracks the experiences of…

Attempts to help students think critically about violence and masculinity in order to point out options for life beyond their urban neighborhood. Builds activities around events and characters from the book chapters, striving to bring the seventh graders to a broader awareness of the prevalence of violent masculinities. (SG)

Proposes that teachers look to current and classic literature as a way to motivate adolescent boys to read and to provide them with positive male role models. Defines 10 male archetypes, and lists examples of literature that illustrate each archetype. (SR)

Describes how the integration of reading and writing strategies in a learning unit on Mexican American culture heightens eighth graders' awareness of their heritage and helps them improve their literacy. Describes how cooperative meaning making with literature, making connections to home and community, and using literature that is culturally…