The increase in screen-based publishing over the past 30 years has sparked an evolution of reading. Reading's natural scope has ignited interest across paradigms. The resulting scholarship offers rich opportunity, but also presents a concerning challenge -- approaches differ across disciplines, producing results that can be difficult to interpret…

Secondary-level content area teachers face unique challenges in helping their students successfully read, understand, and learn content from complex texts in their discipline. In this article, a set of research-based practices designed to provide effective and feasible instruction to improve students' reading and comprehension of text and content…

The authors discuss a survey of reading practices that they administered to students at their home institution, the University of Arkansas, as well as logs that students at the school kept of their daily reading acts. An important finding was that, contrary to possible belief, students at this university are reading quite a bit, although they are…

Describes several websites containing content-area reading and writing resources and research, including the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication (www.indiana.edu/~eric rec). (PKP)

This paper describes a research and development center's project to design procedures for helping students both to develop and to apply effective behaviors for understanding text. The project's developmental efforts are summarized and promising directions for future work are examined. Specifically, the paper (1) clarifies the goals of the project,…

Explains how a teacher can prepare students to read content area material by helping them bring prior knowledge about a topic to memory. (AEA)

Examines the effectiveness of a remediation program that coordinated the existing remediation curriculum with required academic courses. Finds that the program was successful in improving student reading abilities, assisting them in performing well in a beginning history course and retaining them at the university. (RS)

Describes a collaborative effort between an elementary school teacher and a university researcher to conduct joint research in content area reading. Discusses the advantages of such a collaborative project, as well as what the teacher and the researcher both learned. (HTH)

Argues that students' problems in reading content area materials can best be solved by helping them make effective use of their skills through skill-centered instruction. Describes the purpose and rationale for an approach involving the "glossing" of expository text--the addition of intratext notations to direct students' attention while they…

Reports on a study of the curriculum in six paired elementary schools in Los Angeles. Concludes that, if a school has low scores on inferential, interpretive reading, the cure is probably not to give students more of the basics but to develop their vocabularies and general knowledge by providing broad instruction in the content areas. (FL)

Describes the use of the Concerns and Decision-Making Strategy with probationary college freshman in which, through a structured dialog, students take turns assuming the role of the teacher. Finds that this reading/discussion strategy is valuable for learning social studies material, and enhances comprehension, recall, and higher-level thinking.…

This document addresses new insights into the complex cognitive processes involved in reading and their effects on programs and teachers in social studies. Indices are examined that consider: (1) students' reading performance; (2) teacher behavior; (3) textbook readability; and (4) structure for explanation of textual material. Research indicates…

Reports on a survey used to evaluate the secondary school reading program in Polk County, Florida. (DF)

Describes a basic reading course designed to meet the specific needs of the weakest basic writers enrolled in a large midwestern university with an open admissions policy. Shows how the developmental course improved the students' reading comprehension so they could better understand the texts they would encounter in college courses. (SKC)

Francis P. Robinson's 1946 text, "Effective Study," first presented his Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review (SQ3R) study system, which is held to be the most widely advocated textbook study system. This paper traces the development of the ideas behind the SQ3R. SQ3R's theoretical foundation began with work in…