In a recent article published in this journal, Shanahan, Shanahan, and Misischia investigated the differences in how chemists, historians, and mathematicians read text specific to their disciplines. Unlike the chemists and historians, the pair of mathematicians in this study did not consider sources when reading and evaluating their text. In this…

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…

The International Reading Association's Position Statement on Young Adolescents' Literacy Learning states, "It is during the middle years of schooling that most students refine their reading preferences, become sophisticated readers of informational text, and lay the groundwork for the lifelong reading habit." As the National Assessment of…

The purpose of this article is to respond to a review of the report "Developing Literacy in Second-language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth," written by our respected colleague Kathy Escamilla, which appeared in a recent edition of the "Journal of Literacy Research." This will also give us…

In this article, the author presents her brief comments on the issues of effectiveness and sustainability: the lack of a comprehensive and cohesive federal policy that supports literacy learning across the lifespan. The author has taken up this issue in her own work, in attempts to challenge unproductive dichotomies of everyday and scientific or…

The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of adolescent use of instant messaging. Grounded in the New Literacy Studies stance that literacy is a social practice embedded in local contexts and informed by global ideologies (Street, 1995), I argue that participation in digital literacies such as instant messaging has implications for…

In this article, the author, a Oscar Causey award winner, examines the major concepts that have characterized his 40-year career in literacy research. He describes how his understanding of these concepts developed, and particularly who and what influenced his work and how he used these influences. A summary of his current understandings and…

Newspaper headlines from across the United States reflect the turmoil in public education today, with some states protesting federal requirements for testing, some states lowering proficiency requirements, other states raising proficiency requirements, and even kindergarten and preschool children facing higher academic expectations. These…

In our theoretical framework, reading engagement entails multiple perspectives on reading that consist of motivational dispositions, cognitive strategies, conceptual understanding, and social discourse. Possessing these attributes, engaged readers are typically higher achievers than less engaged readers, who show fewer of these qualities or less…

Elaborating on her introduction to "Pentimento: A Book of Portraits," Lillian Hellman remarked that the book's title signaled simply her interest in examining, now that the paint had aged, "what was there for [her] once, what is there for [her] now" (p. 3) in terms of the people and events she was about to portray. Here, the author draws on…

Argues that the National Reading Panel is too narrow in its presentation of scientifically valid reading research. Presents a sample of practices that enjoy support but were ignored by the panel and qualitative research that was out of bounds because of the methodological guidelines of the panel. Concludes that most of the cutting edge of the…

Discusses the importance of keeping adolescents' interests and needs foremost in mind when designing literacy instruction at the middle and high school level. Argues that effective adolescent literacy instruction must address issues of self-efficacy and student engagement with a variety of texts in diverse settings. Contends it must also attend to…

Presents an interpretive text which functions as a report of the author's personal engagements with literary fiction and with philosophical, theoretical, and historical writings. Provides a theoretical and historical overview of literary anthropology as a research method. Concludes with a discussion of what literacy anthropological methods might…

Reflects on how the social practice model of literacy, which defines reading and writing as situated, social practices, under-theorizes certain aspects of literacy. Proposes a set of analytical constructs that treat literacy not solely as an outcome or accomplishment of local practices, but also as a participant in them. (PM)

Describes how literacy is placed within a social and political context and the present predominant conceptualization of literacy necessarily insinuates a democratic context. Defines a theoretical construction of self, community, and citizenship, and articulates the link between education, literacy, and democracy. Describes a model practical…