In this Critical Issues, we argue that the preparation of novice literacy researchers should change in response to the growing diversification of epistemologies and methods employed in literacy research. We assert that the preparation of novice literacy researchers should be aimed at developing students who understand and appreciate a broad range of research epistemologies and methods. We suggest ways in which coursework related to research methods and epistemologies, research apprenticeships and mentoring, and the reading and writing of literacy research might intensify and adjust to meet this aim. We contend that whether our field will be characterized by methodological fragmentation or ecological balance will depend in large part on how we prepare future literacy researchers.

Little is known about reading ability among doctoral students. Thus, we used a multi-stage mixed analysis to examine 205 doctoral students' levels of reading ability, their perceptions of barriers that prevented them from reading empirical articles, and the relationship between these two sets of constructs. Approximately 10% of doctoral students attained reading ability scores that represented the lower percentiles of a normative sample of undergraduate students. A thematic analysis revealed 8 themes (subsumed by 3 meta-themes: Research Characteristics; Comprehension; Text Characteristics) that represented barriers to reading empirical articles and that predicted both perceived and actual reading ability. Combinations of these themes and meta-themes were related to both perceived reading ability and actual reading ability (reading comprehension, reading vocabulary). The implications of these and other findings are discussed and recommendations are provided for helping doctoral students successfully negotiate the path of emergent scholarship.

lthough the highly popular Accelerated Reader (AR) book reading incentive program claims to motivate children of all reading ability levels, very little independent empirical research has examined this assertion. To help fill this void, we used two related three-factor mixed designs with Method (AR vs. Control), Gender; and either Grade Level (fourth vs. fifth) or Reading Ability (high vs. low) to explore AR's influence on the reading attitudes and self-perceptions of children intwo comparable school districts. The analyses indicatethat ARpositively influenced academic reading attitudes, but not recreational ones, and that it negatively influenced two types of self-perceptions in low achieving male readers. These findings and others ofconsequence arediscussed along with implications for future research.

No abstract

The Anna Plan is a unique delivery model for enhancing schoolwide literacy instruction in the primary grades. Based on the principles of Reading Recovery and Four Blocks literacy instruction, it provides supplementary reading instruction through the distinctive use of teaching staff. Over six years, it has resulted in sweeping changes in the way literacy instruction occurs as well as noteworthy increases in children's reading abilities. This article gives a brief history of the authors' work within the Anna Plan, explains each of the model's seven tenets, and describes the research base that drives it. The focal point of the article is the detailed description of the organization and components of the five‐day framework used to augment classroom reading and writing instruction. Finally, the authors recount how the Anna Plan has been embraced by two elementary schools and offer some conclusions about what contributes to the success of whole‐class support models for early literacy.

The Editors of The Reading Teacher introduce a new column, “By Educators, for Educators” through sharing ideas from the Interesting Ways series http://edte.ch/blog/interesting-ways/. Curated by Tom Barrett, the Interesting Ways Series is an example of crowdsourcing or the power collaborative thought. The Interesting Ways Series has more than 30 topics, with new ideas continually added via EDTECH at edte.ch/blog/ and Twitter. It is licensed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 3.0 License, allowing collaborators to share the work as well as add ideas. Therefore, the ideas for using different types of technology in the classroom are added via open source, with some more applicable than others. This column presents interesting ways to ue Twitter for teaching and learning literacy.

In the column, By Educators, For Educators, the Editors of The Reading Teacher highlight ideas from the Interesting Ways series http://edte.ch/blog/interesting-ways/. Curated by Tom Barrett, the Interesting Ways Series is an example of crowdsourcing or the power of collaborative thought. The Interesting Ways Series has more than 30 topics, with new ideas continually added via EDTECH at http://edte.ch/blog/ and Twitter. It is licensed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 3.0 License, allowing collaborators to share the work as well as add ideas. Therefore, the ideas for using different types of technology in the classroom are added via open source, with some more applicable than others.

This Editorial provides an overview about previous research that has been documented to inform practice. We moved from this research base and asked a wider audience to respond to what books or articles they believed made a difference to classroom practice. Each of the authors whose books were mentioned was asked to write an article for The Reading Teacher. One of these articles will appear in each issue of this volume year.