In the 21st century, the term "critical" has attached itself to numerous aspects of literacy research. However, what critical means remains commonly anchored to Freire and a primary critical reading practice--suspicious critique. Expanding critical literacy research (CLR), this article advances "reading orientations" as a…

Practitioners face many challenges when working with students who are experiencing difficulty with comprehension. The act of creating meaning with texts is complex, and comprehension is often measured in schools as a product of reading. Product assessments, such as answering questions or retelling a text, take place after reading, which makes it…

The act of creating meaning with texts is complex, and this complexity creates unclear views of instruction in schools and even greater perplexity in knowing how to instruct students who may be struggling in this area of their schoolwork. Comprehension is often measured in schools as a product and an outcome, making it difficult to understand why…

Coaching is a professional development approach that is utilized to support classroom teachers' implementation of research-based teaching strategies and methods. Studies have shown that coaching supports classroom teachers' implementation of teaching strategies and methods; however, there is little research on what coaches do to support…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether integrating encoding instruction with reading instruction provides stronger gains for students who struggle with reading than instruction that includes little or no encoding. An instructional design model was investigated to best fit the data of 175 first-grade readers at risk for reading…

More and more we are seeing the online medium being used to deliver teacher training, and the need for effective evaluation strategies for these programs is crucial. This study investigated the impact of instituting a well-structured quality-assurance process for monitoring a large-scale, statewide online professional development model:…

Presents a model of literacy based on five habits of effective reading teachers. Explains the rationale and theory that supports: (1) the importance of choice; (2) teaching for continuous progress; (3) curriculum integration; (4) individual conferencing, and (5) child-centered, child-directed activities. (NH)

One of five papers discussing the humanistic model used in the training of reading teachers at City College of New York, this paper deals with procedures used to sensitize students to their own behavior as they work with urban children. The procedures described involve role play and simulations that allow potential teachers to identify their…

A study explored student teachers' adherence, rejection, or modification of their course work-generated (but untested or "idealized") model of reading when faced with the demands of the classroom. Fifty senior education majors enrolled in an integrated elementary and special education program at an urban university wrote reflective essays,…

A new approach to the teaching of reading education is needed which is not focused totally on method but (1) is sensitive to the situations and contexts in which methodologies are to be applied; (2) encourages the active participation of students and values their views about reading pedagogy; and (3) creates a forum in which ideas grounded in the…

Distilling and interpreting past and current research on the effective teaching of reading is the focus of this volume. The titles and authors are as follows: "Research in Effective Teaching: An Overview of Its Development" (William H. Rupley, Beth S. Wise, and John W. Logan); "Process-Product Research on Effective Teaching: A Primer for a…