Rigid foci on accountability, accreditation, and customer service pose significant challenges for literacy educators today. The most consequential identified as the snuffing out of scholastic innovation and erosion of academic freedom. This article recounts a recent experience that occurred while the author prepared a lesson for an undergraduate…

This study examined the effects of three types of reading interventions on the science text reading of secondary students with learning disabilities (LD). Twenty 10th-grade students with LD participated in the study. Using a within-subjects design, the relative effects of three different instructional approaches--text reading, vocabulary learning,…

Literacy is one of the most critical components of academic success, but the majority of students are leaving high school without the reading and writing skills needed to succeed in college and a career. According to ACT, fewer than 40 percent of black and Latino students are ready for college-level reading when they graduate from high school.…

In this case study, the authors describe and analyze social studies education in 13 classrooms across six elementary schools in the Midwest. Reading and reading achievement dominated instructional time and intent across the schools. In the primary grades, social studies was pre-empted by reading, often relegated to an explanatory story note. In…

The overall goal of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is to have all students--100 percent--achieving at proficient levels by 2014. Between now and 2014, states, districts, and schools must take a series of specific steps toward that goal. The law requires that educators focus intensively on challenging academic standards and assessments in…

To provide the first interstate quasi-experimental assessment on the power of content integration in building reading skills, the authors studied the effects on reading comprehension of GeoLiteracy--a K-8 package of 85 lessons that teaches geography in the context of practicing reading and writing skills. Ninety-six third through eighth grade…

The results of a multistep process to begin identifying best practices in deaf education are presented. To identify current practices, a survey was conducted of the literature, the Web sites of professional organizations, and states' education Web sites, which yielded a number of commonly discussed practices. Ten of the more highly cited practices…

With the current intensity surrounding the No Child Left Behind Act, science has moved to the back burner at many schools. Educators everywhere are allotting less time for science. Many teachers have adapted by bringing reading and writing into the science program, but more often than not this has meant using science textbooks to teach the…

Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…