Reports on research on computer-mediated communication among adolescent females in the United States Midwest, examining the purposes served by a particular kind of Internet communication (Instant Messaging) in the life of one girl and her best friend. Points to the need for new pedagogies that both incorporate and offer critical frames for new…

Discusses making community networking a reality for all citizens, noting ways to reduce the digital divide that segments computer use along socioeconomic lines. Lists 4 insights that may help in the design and implementation of community services devoted to computer access and training. Notes a website on community networking, and recent…

Describes how the author, a reading specialist, served as a resource to students and teachers in a large high school by collaborating in different ways with different content area teachers. Shows how approaching this work as a partner rather than an expert, and enhancing teaching and learning for both teachers and students, can foster…

Describes an affordable and effective program to improve the reading and literacy skills of struggling high school readers. Describes and discusses components of the program including tailor-made assignments for each student, the use of community volunteer and peer tutors, and regular opportunities for the students to read to elementary school…

Discusses perceived shortcomings of current family literacy program models that too often: are conceived and implemented as a compensatory model; target only one child and one parent; do not effectively integrate adult education, literacy/ESL, or parent-child interaction time into programing; and that have a radically unstable funding base.…

Discusses why it is important to think critically about web searching; how the size of the web affects searching; how the quality of material on the web affects searching; some good approaches to searching effectively; and how searching can become truly productive inquiring. Notes various data on the size of the web. (SR)

Describes a writing workshop for preservice teachers that demystifies writing and looks at students' (all future teachers) assumptions about what a writer is and what writing is. Notes how this helps students understand and visualize a new set of roles and possibilities for themselves as writers, about who can be a writer, and about what purposes…

Presents case studies of three 13-year-olds receiving individual after-school instruction from a certified reading specialist in a reading program that is part of an urban multidisciplinary mental health agency. Describes students' level of academic functioning and emotional situation and how their needs were met. Shows successes and failures over…

Examines student perceptions and actions when short skits were incorporated into the English as a second language curriculum in a school for adults and adolescents in Central America. Describes how the skits focused on initial and final consonant sounds. Finds that students overcame their fear of speaking and improved their teamwork skills and…

Notes how Western society fears and resists growing old, and points out that educators, along with the rest of society, have little to do with the elderly. Challenges literacy educators to include the elderly and foster connections between the new and the old, and the young and the old. Suggests reading the Foxfire books for inspiration. (SR)

Offers a ninth grader's self-analysis of his writing disability and attention deficit disorder. Shares his coping strategies and offers his own and his mother's suggestions for how teachers can help (and not hurt) students like him. (SR)

Describes the author's experiences as the parent of a son who struggled from preschool until high school graduation. Describes the lack of power and respect that parents of struggling learners feel and the damage to the student of being labeled a slow learner. Notes most teachers did not see his strengths, abilities, and interests, but only…

Describes how the author implemented an online discussion group in his university English as a foreign language classroom. Notes that students benefit in many ways: they share experiences and learn from others, practice writing skills, and create a more interactive environment in and out of the classroom. (SR)

Describes Literacy and Technology Hands On, a program of literacy instruction for young people with Down syndrome who have recently left school, which uses a combination of technology and more traditional methods to continue these students' literacy instruction into young adulthood. Discusses the program's rationale, aims, features, theoretical…

Describes how one teacher researcher helped a class of low-achieving African American eighth graders dramatically increase their reading achievement. Discusses barriers to reading and creating a supportive classroom community. Describes how the author combined explicit skill and strategy development using a framework to address fluency, word…