A comprehensive overview of important contemporary issues in the field of reading research, this book presents 47 essays that examine literacy through a variety of lenses--some permitting microscopic views and others panoramic views. Essays in the book cover current methodology as well as cumulative research-based knowledge. Essays in Part I (Literacy Research Around the World) are: (1) "Reading Research in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand" (Ian A.G. Wilkinson, Peter Freebody, and John Elkins); (2) "Reading Research in the United Kingdom" (Colin Harrison); (3) "Education in Transition: Trends in Central and Eastern Europe" (Kurtis S. Meredith and Jeannie L. Steele); (4) "Literacy Research in Latin America" (Ileana Seda Santana); (5) "Trends in Reading Research in the United States: Changing Intellectual Currents Over Three Decades" (Janet S. Gaffney and Richard C. Anderson). Essays in Part II (Methods of Literacy Research) are: (6) "Making Sense of Classroom Worlds: Methodology in Teacher Research" (James F. Baumann and Ann M. Duffy-Hester); (7) "Designing Programmatic Interventions" (Therese D. Pigott and Rebecca Barr); (8) "Undertaking Historical Research in Literacy" (E. Jennifer Monaghan and Douglas K. Hartman); (9) "Narrative Approaches" (Donna E. Alvermann); (10) "Critical Approaches" (Marjorie Siegel and Susana Laura Fernandez); (11) "Ethnographic Approaches to Literacy Research" (Susan Florio-Ruane and Mary McVee); (12) "Verbal Reports and Protocol Analysis" (Peter Afflerbach); (13) "A Case for Single-Subject Experiments in Literacy Research" (Susan B. Neuman and Sandra McCormick); (14) "Discourse and Sociocultural Studies in Reading" (James Paul Gee); (15) "Research Syntheses: Making Sense of the Accumulation of Knowledge in Reading" (Timothy Shanahan). Essays in Part III (Literacy Processes) are: (16) "The Neurobiology of Reading and Reading Disability (Dyslexia)" (Bennett A. Shaywitz, Kenneth R. Pugh, Annette R. Jenner, Robert K. Fulbright, Jack M. Fletcher, John C. Gore, and Sally E. Shaywitz); (17) "Phonological and Lexical Processes" (Usha Goswami); (18) "Vocabulary Processes" (William E. Nagy and Judith A. Scott); (19) "Learning From Text: A Multidimensional and Developmental Perspective" (Patricia A. Alexander and Tamara L. Jetton); (20) "Structural Aspects of Constructing Meaning From Text" (Susan R. Goldman and John A. Rakestraw, Jr.); (21) "Classroom Language and Literacy Learning" (Louise C. Wilkinson and Elaine R. Silliman); (22) "Children's Literature" (Lee Galda, Gwynne Ellen Ash, and Bernice E. Cullinan); (23) "Research on Response to Literature" (James Marshall); (24) "Engagement and Motivation in Reading" (John T. Guthrie and Allan Wigfield). Essays in Part IV (Literacy Practices) are: (25) "Emergent Literacy: A Matter (Polyphony) of Perspectives" (David B. Yaden, Jr., Deborah W. Rowe, and Laurie MacGillivray); (26) "Beginning Reading Instruction: Research on Early Interventions" (Elfrieda H. Hiebert and Barbara M. Taylor); (27) "Phonological Awareness" (Benita A. Blachman); (28) "Vocabulary Instruction" (Camille L. Z. Blachowicz and Peter Fisher); (29) "Spelling" (Shane Templeton and Darrell Morris); (30) "What Should Comprehension Instruction Be the Instruction Of?" (Michael Pressley); (31) "Literature-Based Reading Instruction" (Lesley Mandel Morrow and Linda B. Gambrell); (32) "Integrated Literacy Instruction" (James R. Gavelek, Taffy E. Raphael, Sandra M. Biondo, and Danhua Wang); (33) "The Role of Text in Classroom Learning" (Suzanne E. Wade and Elizabeth B. Moje); (34) "Reading in the Content Areas: Social Constructivist Dimensions" (Thomas W. Bean); (35) "College Studying" (Sherrie L. Nist and Michele L. Simpson); (36) "Re-Mediating Reading Difficulties: Appraising the Past, Reconciling the Present, Constructing the Future" (Laura Klenk and Michael W. Kibby); (37) "Teacher Research in the Contact Zone" (Susan L. Lytle); (38) "Teaching Teachers to Teach Reading: Paradigm Shifts, Persistent Problems, and Challenges" (Patricia L. Anders, James V. Hoffman, and Gerald G. Duffy); (39) "Literacy and Technology: Deictic Consequences for Literacy Education in an Information Age" (Donald J. Leu, Jr.); (40) "The Effects of Other Technologies on Literacy and Literacy Learning" (Michael L. Kamil, Sam M. Intrator, and Helen S. Kim). Essays in Part V (Literacy Policies) are: (41) "Second-Language Reading as a Case Study of Reading Scholarship in the 20th Century" (Elizabeth B. Bernhardt); (42) "Bilingual Children's Reading" (Georgia Earnest Garcia); (43) "A Multicultural Perspective on Policies for Improving Literacy Achievement: Equity and Excellence" (Kathryn H. Au); (44) "Family Literacy" (Victoria Purcell-Gates); (45) "Intergenerational Literacy Within Families" (Vivian L. Gadsden); (46) "Policy and Instruction: What Is the Relationship?" (Anne McGill-Franzen); (47) "Policy-Oriented Research on Literacy Standards and Assessment" (Sheila W. Valencia and Karen K. Wixson). (RS)