This article examines the federal role in adolescent literacy from its roots in Lyndon B. Johnson's administration with the Economic Opportunity Act (1964) through the Reading for Understanding grants of 2010. The authors consider the extent to which the recent attention to and changes in the federal approach to adolescent literacy can be…

Generalizations about rural youth can be misleading as they are heterogeneous in their backgrounds, cultural heritage, values, and aspirations. This diversity is especially apparent when ethnic subgroups are examined. Black and Hispanic rural youth tend to have lower levels of achievement than white rural youth. This should be kept in mind when…