Current adolescent literacy rates cause concerns at the number of students who graduate high school with basic or below-basic reading skills. The Common Core State Standards promote disciplinary literacy, which presents advanced literacy skills embedded in content area instruction. Disciplinary literacy is argued as a way to raise adolescent…

Secondary teacher preparation in reading in the U.S. has received minimal attention from the research community despite the almost universal implementation of the Common Core State Standards. In response, numerous publications have demanded that secondary teachers be fully prepared to support the needs of struggling readers, especially ELA…

Today's complex literate environments require contemporary authors to focus on the ethical responsibilities of media creation. This study highlights 12th graders in California who produced a documentary on Latino immigration and chronicles the complex interactions between student-generated media, critical literacy, and ethics. Findings…

The authors assert that vocabulary development is one of the most important things teachers can promote for students--cognitively, culturally, socially, and in preparation for standardized tests. A broad-based review of the literature reveals solid reasons for using systematic vocabulary instruction, which is especially helpful with youngsters…

Struggling adolescent readers need interventions that provide them with opportunities to read more and to read better. The authors examine two case studies of interventions at work and propose criteria on which to evaluate intervention programs. Their review of the evidence on these programs for struggling adolescent readers suggests that at least…

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…

Looks at literature that deals with the experiences of adolescents who are seen by their peers to be living on the fringe of dominant adolescent culture. Presents reviews written by a group of university students enrolled in a children's literature course at American University's School of Education in Washington. (SG)

Looks at online writing centers and their multiple relations to cyber spaces and physical places, as well as to institutional and cultural practices. Notes proliferation of online writing centers, hybrid relations of online and offline writing centers, relation of online writing centers to classrooms, transforming space and practice in online…

Reviews research investigating strategies for reading and studying at the college level. Examines 5 generalizations that emerged: (1) task understanding is critical to strategic learning; (2) beliefs about learning influence how students read and study; (3) quality instruction is essential; (4) a variety of research-based strategies should be…

Addresses the value of integrating critical thinking and information literacy in library instruction for students of all grade levels. Sites specific examples of successful implementation of critical thinking and library instruction and how these promote information literacy. (SR)

Examines four "puzzling" results of the National Adult Literacy Survey: (1) the ability to use printed information effectively is unevenly distributed in the United States; (2) adults exhibited a large gap between performance and perception of literacy skills; (3) increased literacy did not always correspond with significant earnings increases;…

Relates the experiences of numerous secondary school teachers (in a variety of disciplines) who found successful ways to use the Internet in their classrooms. Offers their comments and recommendations. Discusses controlling student Internet access, and includes the Acceptable Use Policy form from the author's school district. Offers suggestions…

Offers insight into electronic text. Discusses seven characteristics of electronic text that have an impact on the notion of literacy and literacy instruction. Discusses repositories of electronic text, and describes a small sampling of sources for free electronic texts on the Internet that are easily accessible to teachers and useful for literacy…

Describes the Internet and possible educational issues for its information retrieval and electronic communication functions, particularly applied to secondary content area instruction. Concludes that, while the potential benefits are considerable, its use is costly in terms of time, training, and money. Offers recommendations for classroom use and…

Discusses answers to teachers' questions about portfolio assessment, including: definition of portfolios and portfolio assessment, its apparent advantages and weaknesses, data to be included in portfolios, how portfolios are assessed, whether they are valid and reliable, how portfolio assessment is being used, how it fits with performance…