Close reading is an instructional practice that has gained attention of late. It involves reading a complex text, annotation, and repeatedly reading to answer text-dependent questions. Although there are a number of recommendations for the use of close reading, there has not been a systematic analysis of student or teacher perceptions of this…

The purpose of this embedded mixed methods study was to examine how sixth graders with high and low reading attitudes perceive teacher read aloud. We utilized quantitative data by surveying sixth graders (N = 87) about their reading attitudes and then collected qualitative data by interviewing five students, interviewing the teacher, conducting…

This study examines how critical literacy read-alouds can be facilitated in an early childhood setting. More specifically, it describes how books allow young children to connect with experiences that help them identify and challenge inequality and envision social change. A classroom teacher and two university-based researchers collaborated to…

This article reports on the use of a text-based verbal protocol (Afflerbach, 2000) situated within individual interviews to elicit secondary English teachers' perspectives on new literacies (Albers & Harste, 2007; Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, & Leu, 2008). Ranging significantly in their teaching experience and comfort with new media and digital…

This article presents 34 characteristics of texts and tasks ("text features") that can make continuous (prose), noncontinuous (document), and quantitative texts easier or more difficult for adolescents and adults to comprehend and use. The text features were identified by examining the assessment tasks and associated texts in the national…

The article describes a successful intervention program in developing inferential comprehension in a sixth grader. Steve (pseudonym) was proficient in word reading, was able to detect explicit information while reading, but struggled with linking textual information to yield integral ideas. After 10 weeks of working with Steve on word analogies,…

The major research question was: How do pictures and texts function in developing literary elements in picturebooks for younger readers and picturebooks for older readers? We examined 30 picturebooks for younger readers and 30 picturebooks for older readers to determine how pictures and text work to develop plot, character, setting, and mood.…

This research investigated factors that influence the implementation levels of evidence-based comprehension strategy instruction (CSI) among K-3 teachers. An explanatory design was chosen to gather and probe the data. Quantitative data were gathered via a mailed survey distributed through a representative sample of the 40 school districts (through…

This research investigates the ability of adult proficient readers to predict words that have been fully or partially deleted, without being able to read what came after the blank. Predictions were analyzed for accuracy and if inaccurate for their grammatical nature, syntactic and semantic acceptability, and retention of the author's meaning.…

This investigation is part of a larger study examining the effects of a school-wide literacy reform effort through a multi-leveled system of instructional delivery. The research question addressed was, "How do students perceive reading instruction within their elementary language arts classroom?" Students' perceptions were analyzed through…

Reader response theory and research on book interest underpinned a study of the appeal of celebrity-authored children's storybooks to elementary school students. We engaged fifth-grade students in selecting and reading from a set of 41 celebrity-authored books and completing reader response forms. Utilizing the survey research design and a…

We surveyed students enrolled in Introductory Psychology courses about their text marking preferences and analyzed the marking in their textbooks. Low-skill readers report more reliance on highlighting strategies and actually mark their texts more than better readers. In addition, low-skilled readers prefer to buy used, previously marked texts…

This study examined first graders' accuracy and reading rate in highly decodable and qualitatively leveled texts. The study inspected accuracy and rate by different levels of practice (practiced vs. unpracticed) and at different times of the year (October, January, and May). Seventy-four first graders read both leveled and decodable texts with and…

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…

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,…