Shares Governor Taft's literacy goals and insights with the reading professionals throughout the state who work with Ohio's young readers and their volunteer tutors. Shares the perspectives of Nancy Padak and Janet Day, members of the OhioReads Council, on the progress and promise of OhioReads. Invites readers' responses--as teachers, as…

Discusses reading and writing workshops at Green Intermediate School. Notes that Nancy Atwell's voice has become a significant thread woven into a tapestry of literacy research and instruction among others whose work has contributed to the evolution of the way educators teach children to negotiate language. (SG)

Examined similarities and differences in high school language teachers' practical knowledge about teaching reading comprehension. Teacher surveys indicated that part of teachers' practical knowledge was shared knowledge. Four scales of unshared practical knowledge were distinguished. On the basis of those scales, four clusters of teachers were…

Summarizes the findings of Book Flood studies in Niue, Fiji, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Solomon Islands, and several other developing countries. It is possible to double the rate of reading acquisition of Third World primary school pupils with a Book Flood of about 100 high-interest books per class and short teacher training sessions.…

Presents a study in which 74 boys with reading disabilities and a matched control group of normal readers were followed during their compulsory schooling (to grade 9). Assesses word decoding performance on three occasions. Finds that the most powerful predictor is early reading performance and non-verbal intelligence. Notes that neither teaching…

Offers a collection of reflective essays written by past presidents of the National Reading Conference, the parent organization of this journal. Considers such issues as the nature and character of the organization during their tenure and the major research topics under investigation. Attempts a synthesis of the reports that focuses on recurrent…

Discusses the potential of the Direct Instruction (DI) model to improve reading comprehension among children in high poverty schools, noting conditions under which the DI model will produce maximum gains in reading comprehension. The paper summarizes articles from this theme issue, which provide evidence that the DI model does improve student…

Presents results from a survey in the United States that provides some indication of how reading specialists fulfill their roles and how they offer students effective literacy instruction. Notes that the goal was to investigate what reading specialists do so that educators could better understand how they provide services to students and teachers.…

Encourages the idea of cross-generational shared reading experiences. Presents annotations (written by students) of 12 titles. Notes that almost half of the books that are featured have been around for a while, and yet they are still fresh for new readers. (SG)

Focuses on the general auditory hypothesis and its special form as proposed by P. Tallal and her colleagues. Reviews evidence for these hypotheses and finds it to be either purely correlational or flawed by misinterpretation of results and/or lack of necessary experimental controls. Concludes deficits in speech perception often observed in…

Investigates young children's developing understanding of three essential features of book language (i.e. autonomy, conventionality, unique grammar) in two curricular genres (i.e. narrative and expository) in a literature-based, multigrade (1st-3rd) classroom. Demonstrates emergent understanding of autonomy, limited familiarity with…

Considers how using reading discussion groups with preservice teachers leads to greater comprehension and engagement. Outlines the structure used to involve students in independent reflection and group discourse about self-selected course readings. Describes a study of the effects of engaging students in structured small-group discussions about…

Reflects on the articles in this themed issue on reflective practice. Notes that these teacher/authors have been influenced by prior learning, past experience, feelings, attitudes, values, the school constraints on the learning environment, and their own assumptions about teaching. Describes how teachers have formed a learning community to…

Presents middle-school student comments on why they like S. E. Hinton's novel "The Outsiders" so much. Notes that it is good reading, realistic, current and kid-oriented. Presents the Herber Exercise, an exercise that uses students' experiences to enhance reading comprehension. Applies the Herber Exercise to "The Outsiders." (SG)

Presents annotations of 99 articles (most published between 1980 and 2001) about young adult literature. Describes the criteria used to select the articles. (SG)