After reviewing results from the Nation's Report Card in Writing, this article presents data from a survey of Latino students, the largest ethnic group of students at Northeastern Illinois University. These data suggest that the Hispanic students at Northeastern are similar to their national Hispanic peers in several ways, such as the levels of…

Integrity is commonly conflated with basic literacy in assessments of the skills workers need. This case study of a word-based character education program in Springfield, Missouri examines how business leaders may blame a lack of skills by employees on a lack of moral literacy. The premise of this essay is that the expression of a literacy program…

This essay describes service learning as a space for civic dialogue. In the project-oriented course discussed below--an oral history of a south-side African-American neighborhood in Chicago--civic dialogue took shape when middle class students from a range of backgrounds at the Illinois Institute of Technology interviewed residents of different…

In this article I critique six quantitative studies of Reading Recovery and five reviews of Reading Recovery research published in Tier 1 research journals--journals accepted as having high levels of "expert scrutiny" through peer review. I also critique several quantitative research studies of Reading Recovery published in Tier 2 research…

This qualitative inquiry examined second graders' literacy learning by observing acts of processing on continuous text. Specifically, this study explored the variety, complexity, and change in second graders' "on-the-run" reading behaviors at three points in time across an academic year. Systematic observation and the analysis of more than 2,500…

This investigation examined how cooperating teachers (CTs) influence the behaviors and quality of student teachers' (STs) reading instruction. Improving the reading achievement of early elementary students and enhancing teacher quality are two education reform priorities for Title I schools that have important implications for teacher education.…

This paper discusses fluency's role in reading development and suggests ways of incorporating fluency instruction into the literacy curriculum through a range of oral reading approaches. It concentrates on two distinct groups of learners: students who are making the shift to fluent reading (generally second and third graders) and those who have…

This study quantitatively analyzed the structure of Reading Recovery lessons for children with hearing loss by examining and comparing the supportive interactions of three Reading Recovery teachers of 12 children with hearing loss and three Reading Recovery teachers of 12 hearing children. All of the children were in the second year of primary…

The purpose of this article is to question the amount of time that beginning readers should spend reading connected text in school. Based on a study of 66 children in 26 classrooms, the authors found that children in first-grade classrooms with "less" reading of connected text achieved more in their phonics learning than children in classrooms…

In this article, we begin by briefly reviewing some of the national statistics on older adults and computer usage, statistics that led each of us to volunteer as teachers to develop technological literacy programs for older adults at local community centers. Because we recognize that all literacies are developed and used by specific people in…

Arguing that we fail both parents and students if we continue to think of community literacy as a dichotomy between school and work, this article illustrates Labor Market Intermediaries (LMIs) as sites of community literacy. The investigation of LMIs in a particular community (Greater Lafayette, Indiana) allows for a more thorough understanding of…

For nineteen years, Mercy Learning Center, a community-based literacy organization, has provided basic literacy instruction to low-income women in Bridgeport, Connecticut. During that time it has grown from three students and two tutors to 450 students, 155 tutors, and five full-time teachers. This growth has been affected by changes in welfare…

What does it mean for a community writing assistance program to bridge the gap between the university and the community? What makes for a successful alliance between these two worlds usually considered distinct? Our paper addresses these questions by reflecting on the factors that have contributed to the growing success of our CWA program at the…

This article outlines one potential model for a graduate-level course in community literacy studies. Ellen Cushman and Jeffery Grabill taught this course for the first time at Michigan State University in the spring of 2007. In this article our colleagues with varying disciplinary backgrounds reflect on the course, its readings, and their…

This study focused on 27 second graders in one urban school that used SRA Reading Mastery. Children's strategy use, comprehension, and perception of the reading process were appraised using samples of oral reading with retellings; classroom observations; interviews with the children, their teachers, and the principal; and a phonics test. Results…