As an educator teaching an online course for the first time, I observed that the teachers in my class engaged in meaningful and sincere conversation and gained deep insight and greater awareness about their practice. Sincere conversation obviously differs from brief verbal exchanges operating at the surface level. It is conversation that invites…

This case study addressed the experiences and perceptions of two novice alternatively certified reading teachers positioned at two chronically underperforming and high poverty secondary schools. The findings from the Cognitive Coaching participant revealed the Cognitive Coaching model had an important influence on the participant's ability to…

Reading Recovery is an early intervention program used around the world for at-risk readers. Developed at a time when constructivist principles dominated educational philosophy, its efficacy has caused debate and division over the last three decades. This qualitative study employed in-depth interviews and observations to explore 10 Reading…

Opinion regarding the importance of skilled reading converges in an almost unanimous voice. Despite the overwhelming importance of reading, 33% of fourth graders experience reading failure (The National Center for Education Statistics, 2009). Additionally, classrooms are composed of diverse learners with various learning styles and abilities…

This paper describes the ways in which a literacy educator attempted to shift her own and pre-service teachers' mindsets towards the needs of 21st Century literacy learners by employing a pedagogy of discomfort. The focus of the disruption was on contesting normative practices and content while developing and refining novice teachers' skills in…

Research Findings: In the United States a shift has occurred in how children are identified for long-term special education services. Since 2004, U.S. funding for special education services has included a provision for early intervention services, focusing on the importance of providing supplemental instructional opportunities to students who are…

Joseph Schwab, a curriculum theorist, described four commonplaces, or universals, of teaching: content, students, milieu and teachers. This article considers how the Reading Standards of the ELA-CCSS are shaping these commonplaces in the teaching of reading. The organization of the Reading Standards, for example, focuses on two broad grade bands,…

A mixed method study explored a theoretical model that employed, combined, and added to the theories of self-determination, the reading engagement perspective, and the four-phase model of interest to motivate adolescent struggling readers to read for pleasure. The model adds to the existing body of research because it specifies an instructional…

From January to March 2013, "Canadian Literacy and Learning Network" (CLLN) conducted a snapshot to provide information about how digital technology tools are being used in the Literacy and Essential Skills (L/ES) field. The snapshot focused primarily on digital tools and activities that meet the organizational needs of provincial and…

Teachers of reading in secondary schools know how important it is for low-attaining readers to read whole narratives but time to do this in a crowded curriculum is limited and progress is more easily measured through reading smaller parts of texts. This paper reports on a longitudinal critical action research project in which three English…

The author explores the balance of responsibility for effective formative reading assessment between classroom teachers and the curricular structure within which they work.

Despite recent findings that show fluency deficits in developmental readers, the field of developmental reading remains remiss in fluency instruction. This article provides a summary intended to increase college reading teachers' understanding of reading fluency and fluency instruction. In addition, included are the step-by-step procedures of…

Marjorie Y. Lipson is professor emerita and research associate with Vermont Reads Institute. Her work focuses on assessment and instruction of students with reading difficulties, comprehension instruction, and school reform. She is widely published and has received many awards for teaching. In this "Ask the Expert" she replies to questions posed…

The activities described in this article, Prediction Path and Quotation Cafe, are adapted from the IRA book "Building Reading Comprehension Habits in Grades 6-12." They highlight the reading comprehension habit of making inferences and predictions, which can be used across content areas and grade levels. In creating this toolkit of activities, the…

When students experience reading difficulties--or even before they do--teachers can use specialized knowledge to help them achieve success. This overview of the International Dyslexia Association's "Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading" describes those reading and literacy standards and provides resources for teacher…