Framed in theories of social semiotics, this descriptive multiple case study examined six middle school teachers' use of gestures during one school year as they each taught two different subject areas: earth science, language arts, mathematics, and/or social studies. The data, which included field notes and photographs from 354 lessons and…

This multi-sited ethnographic study examines the ways in which Latino and Asian immigrant parents' English learning through two church-based ESL programs in a Southeastern U.S. city affects their family literacy and home language practices. It demonstrates that the parents' participation in the programs is an empowering experience…

This study was conducted utilizing a quasi-experimental pre- and postgroup design to examine the effects of a phonologically based intervention aimed to improve phonological awareness (PA) and reading abilities in school-age children with language impairment (LI) in Grades 1 through 3. The intervention included instruction in PA and sound-symbol…

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…

In this article, the author reports on what he found impressive in the evaluation results of the program Reading First (RF) in four states: Utah, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The author states that responding to these four exemplary state-level studies of Reading First evoked mixed feelings. He noticed three things: (1) the RF effect…

This article provides a summary of the five years of implementation of the first cohort of schools participating in Utah's Reading First Initiative. Fifteen schools across six districts comprised this cohort. Performance is compared to the performance of a cohort of matched comparison schools as well as the average state performance on the Utah…

The effect of three approaches to revision instruction on 61 college students' revision behavior and writing quality was investigated for this article. Students wrote three 5-page papers and received one of three instructional approaches: Formal Peer Review (n = 19), Formal Self-Review (n = 20), or No Formal Review (n = 22). Formal Peer Review…

This retrospective cross-case analysis compares two fourth-grade language arts teachers' beliefs and practices as they respond to an influx of high-stakes tests, including district-mandated benchmark testing systems. One teacher works in a suburban school, the other in an urban school. Results from the study show that the teachers' beliefs about…

This study examined whether maternal evaluations of children's emergent literacy (EL) levels, maternal mediation during a book-reading activity with children, and the children's EL levels differ as a function of socioeconomic status (SES; low vs. high), and whether the relationships between these variables differ as a function of SES levels. Study…

To determine the conditions that would best encourage reflection in journal writing of preservice teachers in field-based reading internships, the degree of reflective content found in self-contained traditional journals was compared to the reflective content found in journal entries shared over e-mail list serves. Participants were 56 preservice…

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of two instructional approaches designed to improve the reading fluency of 2nd-grade children. The first approach was based on Stahl and Heubach's (2005) fluency-oriented reading instruction (FORI) and involved the scaffolded, repeated reading of grade-level texts over the course of each week.…

The present study replicated the original evaluation of the Howard Street tutoring model (Morris, Shaw, & Perney, Perney, 1990), an intervention for struggling readers in second and third grade. It also evaluated the effectiveness of supervised paraprofessionals (Title I aides) in delivering that tutorial. For an entire school year, teachers or…

Provides a comparative analysis of 54 studies (18 literacy; 36 general teacher education) of preservice teacher reflection. Produces descriptive observations that highlight similarities and differences between the two data sets and five interpretive patterns that characterize researchers' conceptualizations and problem solving. Recommends…

Presents a comparative study of the term "context" across three major research journals: "Research in the Teaching of English"; "Reading Research Quarterly"; and "Journal of Literacy Research." Shows that the most consistent finding reported across studies is that context makes a difference, but a clear understanding of what is meant by context…

Compares the effectiveness of two oral reading practices on second graders' reading growth: shared book reading and round-robin reading. Concludes that the shared book experience was superior to round-robin reading in reducing young children's oral reading errors, improving their reading fluency, and improving their reading comprehension. (PA)