The purpose of this paper is to present a developmental model of reading that encompasses changes across the lifespan. The author contends that until we adopt this lifelong perspective, we continue to run the risk of turning out undeveloped, unmotivated, and uncritical readers unable to fulfill their responsibilities within a democratic society.…

Struggling readers exist in every school. As long as there are readers, there will be students who struggle and find reading a challenge. Helping struggling readers to read, comprehend, and enjoy print should be an essential task for library media specialists and teachers in all subjects since reading involves such a wide variety of materials:…

Whether teachers are horror fans or not, part of a teacher's service to student readers is to recommend recent and good horror novels. Unlike the almost idiosyncratic horror market of years past, today a series of recognizable horror writer such as Christopher Pike, D. E. Atkins, R. L. Stine and others are turning out numerous titles specifically…

A study identified a list of trade books that educators selected for use in their own classrooms and a list of factors that they considered to be the most important when selecting those books. Subjects, 486 educators who taught in grades 4, 5, or 6 in 45 public school districts and 15 private schools in southeastern Pennsylvania, identified two…

A study compared the choices of Charlottesville area children with those from Children's Choice lists, published annually in "The Reading Teacher." Subjects, 62 third- to sixth-grade students, were interviewed before they checked books out of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library Main Branch in Charlottesville, Virginia. Children were…

It is very important and fun for the English teacher to take time simply to read to the students. (JH)

Examines three aspects of reading considered to be important in the development of an individual's skills, citing content, interest, and social role in this literature review on factors affecting reading performance. (RB)

A study investigated the contention that secondary school literature programs have offered, and continue to offer, what could be construed as a literary canon, a relatively small body of literary texts to which a majority of students have been and are continuing to be exposed. Several surveys of the literary works teachers assign, dating back to…

Noting the increase in the number of Hispanics in the United States and a parallel increase in the number of magazines for this segment of the population, a study analyzed readership patterns of a Spanish-language metropolitan magazine. Data were collected by means of a mail survey completed by 282 subscribers of the "Miami Mensual." Six…

A study tested the uses and gratifications theoretical perspective--that motivations affect media use which in turn influences the effects of that use. The American Student Dental Association targeted its publications to different subaudiences and provided a grant to the University of Texas at Austin to study (1) whether the differentiation…

A study investigated the importance adults assign to various techniques used in the design and production of print educational material. Subjects, 103 adults who regularly receive printed educational information and professionals engaged in the production of such information, completed a survey including demographic information, time spent in…

A study was conducted to test the validity of a media exposure model that posits that editorial tone, communication potential, and utility determine the linkage between an individual's medium assessments and choices. A personal interview readership survey of Nigerian elites who read two high quality magazines distributed by the United States…

Discusses the results of a survey of children's reading interests classified by age and by sex within age levels. (TO)