Chinese learners are often stereotyped as high achievers and overlooked in literacy research. This year-long, qualitative study in a combined Grade 4/5 classroom presents the cases of two struggling Chinese-Canadian learners. The study offers a new perspective on struggling learners by revealing a complex, multilayered understanding of these…

Although the highly popular Accelerated Reader (AR) book reading incentive program claims to motivate children of all reading ability levels, very little independent empirical research has examined this assertion. To help fill this void, we used two related three-factor mixed designs with Method (AR vs. Control), Gender, and either Grade Level…

This study is a summary and simplification of a very large phoneme-grapheme frequency count done by Hanna et al. phoneme-grapheme frequency count done by Hanna et al. T(1966). Although the results and data from the original study have implications for teaching phonics and spelling, they were presented in a complicated and unwieldy manner.…

The influence of social relationships, positive interdependence, and teacher structure on the quality of partner reading interactions was examined. Partner reading, a scripted cooperative learning strategy, is often used in classrooms to promote the development of fluent and automatic reading skills. Forty-three pairs of second grade children were…

This study examines the thinking of college students who read conflicting accounts of the Tonkin Gulf Incident during the Vietnam Conflict as part of their class assignments, in addition to receiving instruction in disciplinary strategies and the ways in which historians read. Thirteen students responded to questionnaires and participated in two…

Integrating funds of knowledge--the resources, processes, and strategies attached to family and community proficiencies--has widely been accepted as a worthwhile pedagogical intervention. In this article, we argue that two of the primary assumptions underlying such interventions have yet to be explored. First, because funds of knowledge are…

In this report, the development, field testing, and validation of the Classroom Literacy Environment Profile (CLEP) are described. In the first phase, characteristics of print-rich classroom environments were identified, defined, and organized into categories through a review of the literature, classroom observations, and teacher focus groups. In…

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…

In this article we describe the leisure reading practices and attitudes towards reading of two cohorts of teenage boys and their parents from one educated, middle-class school community in Australia. Leisure reading refers to free choice or recreational reading across a range of genres (e.g., fiction/nonfiction) and modes (e.g., print/electronic).…

We report on the development and validation of the TEX-IN3, a research tool and protocol designed to assess the quality of the classroom literacy environment. The TEX-IN3 is described in terms of its theoretical base as well as its practical applications. The TEX-IN3 includes three basic components: a text inventory, a text "in-use" observation,…

Explores of the influences of social class on one adolescent's language and literacy practices as she moved from high school in an isolated rural community to college in an urban framework. Notes the student became alienated by college courses that did not acknowledge language competencies related to her status as a working-class person. Concludes…

Explains that as young readers respond to narrative texts in a variety of media, they repeatedly step in and out of the fictional universe of their different stories. Outlines contemporary texts that foster various forms of such border crossing, in and out of diegesis, the framework of events as narrated in the text. Explores how an awareness of…

Contends that a focus on social interaction in classrooms provides important perspectives on how teachers' and students' actions and the characteristics of the learning environment shape classroom interactions and outcomes. Identifies features of the classroom context that shape students' participation in the classroom literacy community. Explains…

Examines literacy practices in their sociohistorical contexts, drawing examples of religious reading practices and stances from Orthodox Jewish reading practices. Notes that religious reading practices highlight the repertoire of reading genres, strategies, and stances that members of modern multicultural societies learn to control. Concludes that…

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…