Today's teachers are required to spend most of their English/Language Arts time in teacher-directed instruction with required text, which is primarily informational. Little, if any, time is allocated to self-selected independent reading (Garan & DeVoogd, 2008). In addition, some teachers do not understand the importance of independent reading…

This report highlights the enduring importance of our Young Readers Programme by providing children with impactful positive reading experiences as well as opportunities to choose and, crucially, keep books. This is particularly important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, with over 1 in 4 children who receive free school meals telling us…

'Reading science for pleasure' features little in school-related science education literature and scant guidance is available for teachers who wish to promote this practice among their pupils. This is the second of a pair of articles charting the development of Project 500 (Schools), a programme aiming to encourage children and young teens to read…

Describes a "Saturday Reading Club" that was implemented in an urban school for early elementary school children for the purpose of promoting literacy. Notes that the literature-based project used trained university volunteers. Suggests that the club had a positive influence on children's interest in books, reading comprehension, and…

Using a literacy project as illustration, I make a case for action research as an approach for external innovators who seek to effect educational change. Collaboration between the innovator and those for whom the innovation is intended, rather than power, is the key ingredient in bringing about change. Clients must be actively involved at all…

This document is an executive summary of a study examining the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program (IBDP), a federally funded and sponsored program operated by Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Sections of the report provide the following information: (1) methodology and procedures for conducting the study, (2) a brief description of RIF national…

This report provides details of a study of the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program (IBDP), a federally funded and sponsored program operated by Reading is Fundamental (RIF). The specific objectives of the described study were to determine the effectiveness of the IBDP in generating student reading motivation, and to describe the process by which…

This booklet presents descriptions of 19 reading programs that encourage Indiana middle-grade students to read. The programs described in the booklet were part of the Middle Grades Reading Network and were funded with competitive $5000 "minigrants." Essays (descriptions of the reading programs) in the booklet are: "Building a…

The amount of time students spend in classrooms is relatively short--"13% of the student's waking hours in the first 18 years of life" (Walberg, Paschal, and Weinstein, 1985). They are developing intellectually, socially, and emotionally all the time, and parents are their models and teachers most of the time. This report describes and…