Project RAISSE, which stands for Reading Assistance Initiative for Secondary School Educators, focuses on site-based content area study groups led by a content area teacher trained as a coach/literacy leader with some roles and responsibilities commensurate with a literacy coach. The goal of Project RAISSE is to enhance students' reading…

Although literacy coaching means many different things, all coaching initiatives have one common commitment: the goal of building teacher expertise. In the authors' work as coaches and with coaches, they have relied on teacher study groups as a main strategy for accomplishing this task. Their understanding of the potential for study groups has…

This brief is one coach's perspective on the ways that culture and race may impact how we engage other professionals in the roles as literacy coaches and at the same time, explore how cultural sensitivity may increase the capacity for fundamental change in the schools we serve. It is written in response to the many conversations the author has had…

Coalitions have key roles in helping their communities accomplish the following: (1) Track the level of literacy in the community; (2) Use that information to help identify what, and how much, literacy assistance is needed; (3) Assess the extent to which community literacy programs are meeting the need, including how well existing literacy…

This investigation was undertaken to investigate the threshold levels of literacy and language proficiency necessary for adult learners to use the Internet for independent learning. The report is triangulated around learning from large-scale surveys, learning from the literature, and learning from the field. Reported findings include: (1)…

The National CARES Mentoring Movement (NCMM) is a call to commitment and action to the Black community to mentor its young, providing guidance and encouragement to build happy, productive and self-sustaining lives. Objectives include: (1) Connecting vulnerable Black youngsters with caring adults; (2) Communicating to at-risk youth that their…

In an effort to both challenge and engage adolescent students deemed to be academically "at risk," the purpose of this study was to examine the possibility of creating a pedagogical bridge between dominant (school sanctioned) and non-dominant (non-school) forms of literacy. The study was conducted within a setting where high school students were…

Even though Finnish students continually score at the highest levels on international reading tests, little attention is given to Finland's reading education programs. Dismissing Finnish attainments often is based on the attitude that the Finnish language is simpler, due to a close one-to-one sound/symbol match and that Finland is an isolated…

This article reports on the results of a survey examining the perceptions of university faculty regarding the importance of graduate programs preparing reading specialists for a leadership role. The results of the survey indicate that slightly more that half of the programs require a leadership course and less than half of the reading specialist…

The debate over the extent to which individual letters are perceived by proficient readers continues to play a dominant role in the ongoing "reading wars." One view holds that virtually all letters are processed, the other view that only some letters are perceived, supplemented by context and background knowledge. There is little research,…

This study explored the ways gender is accomplished in varied social contexts during the peer revision process in a secondary English classroom. Using a post-structural feminist theoretical framework, an analysis of classroom discourse provided a basis for understanding the performance of gender during peer revision, the effects of gender…

Relations between preservice teachers' guided field observations of primary literacy instruction and knowledge about effective beginning reading practices were explored. Preservice teachers (n = 48) participated in a Directed Field Experience course including instruction on and observations of exemplary teaching practices promoting student…

This study investigated the effects of reward proximity and choice of reward on the reading motivation of third-grade students as measured by indicators of task persistence. The major finding from this study was that students who were given a book as a reward and students who received no reward were more motivated to engage in subsequent reading…

There is a recent interest in volunteer tutoring programs and research has suggested effectiveness in improving reading skills. Previous research found that the Help One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) volunteer tutoring program increased reading fluency and comprehension over a 5-month interval (Burns, Senesac, & Symington, 2004). The current study…

Using Conceptual Change Theory, this qualitative study of literacy teacher education investigated how eight beginning teachers developed knowledge about multicultural literacy pedagogy. Teachers' written and spoken language was analyzed from data sources collected during and outside of a preparation course, part of a nighttime alternative…