Aims to shed new light on the issue of literacy in America, providing a social history that broadens the definition of literacy, considering who was reading what, under what circumstances and for what purposes. The book assesses trends in Americans' reading abilities and reading habits.

A study of the reading comprehension of 4th and 9th grade students in the U.S. that goes beyond simple comparisons of national achievement levels. The reader can place the U.S. in an international perspective, compare the performance of the U.S. population with the performance of children in 32 other nations, and thus, evaluate our students against a world standard. It looks at the reading comprehension skill of 4th graders; the variation in these skills across various sub- populations of students; and the explanation for these variations according to what families, teachers, and schools do and provide. Charts and tables.

Literacy in America: A Cultural History of the Past Century is a history of literacy in the United States over the last one hundred years. Told chronologically and supported by hundreds of research studies done over the years as reported in scholarly journals, the work sheds new light on the important role that literacy and reading in general have played in this country since the 1920s. The subject is parsed through the voices of educators, intellectuals, and journalists who have weighed in on its many different dimensions. Literacy is a key site of race, gender, and class, offering insights related to the social and economic inequities that are embedded in our institutions. The primary argument of Literacy in America is that literacy, as a major part of education, has functioned as a means of social control of children, with authority figures dictating which reading material is acceptable and which is not. Literacy has also operated as a vehicle of citizenship for Americans of all ages, and as a symbol of the responsibilities of democracy. With its ambitious scope, the strives to be a seminal guide to literacy in America and add to our understanding of everyday life in the United States. Most interesting, perhaps, is the twisting, unpredictable journey of literacy since the end of World War I, when I argue that the subject’s modern era began. Rather than follow a straight line, both the perception and reality of reading swerved over the years, offering a trajectory that makes for a compelling narrative for anyone interested in American cultural and social history. Controversy of some kind has often surrounded literacy in the United States, this alone making it a fascinating source of interest to explore in detail.

This document presents the transcript of Congressional hearings to gather information as to why children cannot read. Current federal programs were reviewed as well. After opening statements of the Hon. Bill Goodling and the Hon. Tim Roemer, the transcript for the hearing held on July 10, 1997 on why children cannot read includes the texts of oral statements and prepared statements by the following individuals or organizations: Richard Venezky, Reid Lyon, Robert E. Slavin, Catherine Snow, Vivian L. Gadsden, Janet Nicholas, Barbara Ruggles, Margaret Doughty, the Hon. Bill Clay, and Carolyn McCarthy. The transcript for the hearing held on July 31, 1997 on a review of current federal programs on literacy includes the texts of oral statements and prepared statements by the following individuals or organizations: the Hon. Bill Clay, the Hon. Lamar Smith, Maris A. Vinovskis, Herbert Walberg, Joseph Johnson, Jr., Cheryl Wilhoyte, and Andrew Hayes. After an opening statement of the Hon. Bill Goodling, the transcript for the hearing held on September 3, 1997 on teachers as the key to helping America learn to read includes the texts of oral statements and prepared statements by the following individuals or organizations: Ann W. Mintz, Debra Wakefield, Kimberly Wilson, Laura D. Fredrick, Beth S. Check, Louisa C. Moats, Nancy Thompson, and materials submitted by the Hon. Bobby Scott. (RS)

The definitive encyclopedic resource on literacy, literacy instruction, and literacy assessment in the United States. Once upon a time, the three "R"s sufficed. Not any more—not for students, not for Americans. Gone the way of the little red school house is simple reading and writing instruction. Surveying an increasingly complex discipline, Literacy in America: An Encyclopedia offers a comprehensive overview of all the latest trends in literacy education—conceptual understanding of texts, familiarity with electronic content, and the ability to create meaning from visual imagery and media messages. Educators and academicians call these skills "multiple literacies," shorthand for the kind of literacy skills and abilities needed in an age of information overload, media hype, and Internet connectedness. With its 400 A–Z entries, researched by experts and written in accessible prose, Literacy in America is the only reference tool students, teachers, and parents will need to understand what it means to be—and become—literate in 21st-century America.