In a time of pressures, challenges, and threats to public education, teacher preparation, and funding for educational research, the fifth volume of the Handbook of Reading Research takes a hard look at why we undertake reading research, how school structures, contexts and policies shape students' learning, and, most importantly, how we can realize greater impact from the research conducted. A comprehensive volume, with a "gaps and game changers" frame, this handbook not only synthesizes current reading research literature, but also informs promising directions for research, pushing readers to address problems and challenges in research design or method. Bringing the field authoritatively and comprehensively up-to-date since the publication of the Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV, this volume presents multiple perspectives that will facilitate new research development, tackling topics including: Diverse student populations and sociocultural perspectives on reading development Digital innovation, literacies, and platforms Conceptions of teachers, reading, readers, and texts, and the role of affect, cognition, and social-emotional learning in the reading process New methods for researching reading instruction, with attention to equity, inclusion, and education policies Language development and reading comprehension Instructional practices to promote reading development and comprehension for diverse groups of readers Each volume of this handbook has come to define the field for the period of time it covers, and this volume is no exception, providing a definitive compilation of current reading research. This is a must-have resource for all students, teachers, reading specialists, and researchers focused on and interested in reading and literacy research, and improving both instruction and programs to cultivate strong readers and teachers.

The Handbook of Reading Research is the research Handbook for the field. Each volume has come to define the field for the period of time it covers. Volume IV follows in this tradition. The editors extensively reviewed the reading research literature since the publication of Volume III in 2000, as portrayed in a wide array of research and practitioner-based journals and books, to identify the themes and topics covered. As in previous volumes, the focus is on reading research, rather than a range of literate practices. When taken as a set, the four volumes provide a definitive history of reading research. Volume IV brings the field authoritatively and comprehensively up-to-date.

This landmark volume articulates and develops the argument that new directions in sociocultural theory are needed in order to address important issues of identity, agency, and power that are central to understanding literacy research and literacy learning as social and cultural practices. With an overarching focus on the research process as it relates to sociocultural research, the book is organized around two themes: conceptual frameworks and knowledge sources.
*Part I, "Rethinking Conceptual Frameworks," offers new theoretical lenses for reconsidering key concepts traditionally associated with sociocultural theory, such as activity, history, community, and the ways they are conceptualized and under-conceptualized within sociocultural theory.
*Part II, "Rethinking Knowledge and Representation," considers the tensions and possibilities related to how research knowledge is produced, represented, and disseminated or shared--challenging the locus of authority in research relationships, asking who is authorized to be a legitimate knowledge source, for what purposes, and for which audiences or stakeholders.
Employing the lens of "critical sociocultural research," this book focuses on the central role of language and identity in learning and literacy practices. It is intended for scholars, researchers, and graduate students in literacy education, social and cultural psychology, social foundations of education, educational anthropology, curriculum theory, and qualitative research in education.

"Constructions of Literacy" explores and represents, through a series of cases and commentaries, how and why secondary school teachers and students use literacy in formal and informal learning settings. As used in the context of this book, secondary literacy refers to speaking, listening, reading, writing, and performing. It also refers to how these processes or events are constructed, negotiated, and used for specific purposes by teachers and students as they engage in various classroom, school, and community practices and interactions.
The authors operate from a stance that literacy is socially, culturally, and historically constructed. They recognize that there are many different perspectives on how that construction occurs--some arguing for institutional and structural influences--others suggesting that people have some degree of agency within the constraints imposed by larger structures. A distinguishing feature of the volume is that the contributors explore and make explicit "differing" perspectives on literacy as a social construction.
The volume is built around case studies of secondary school teachers' and students' literacy practices inside and outside of schools. The cases include diverse (critical, cultural, feminist, interpretive, phenomenological, and postmodern) theoretical and epistemological perspectives and research methodologies, making this one of the first collections of studies in secondary content area classrooms conducted from multiple perspectives. It concludes with two Commentaries, one by Donna Alvermann and one by David Bloome, in which they discuss and critique the contributions made from the different perspectives and grapple with how they simultaneously illuminate and confuse issues in literacy theory, research, and practice.
Preservice and in-service teachers, school professionals, and researchers in literacy education, secondary education, and curriculum theory will find this book stimulating and informative. It will help them analyze the complexities of secondary literacy teaching and learning, and examine their own understandings of literacy within their own literacy contexts.

In a time of pressures, challenges, and threats to public education, teacher preparation, and funding for educational research, the fifth volume of the Handbook of Reading Research takes a hard look at why we undertake reading research, how school structures, contexts and policies shape students' learning, and, most importantly, how we can realize greater impact from the research conducted. A comprehensive volume, with a "gaps and game changers" frame, this handbook not only synthesizes current reading research literature, but also informs promising directions for research, pushing readers to address problems and challenges in research design or method. Bringing the field authoritatively and comprehensively up-to-date since the publication of the Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV, this volume presents multiple perspectives that will facilitate new research development, tackling topics including: Diverse student populations and sociocultural perspectives on reading development Digital innovation, literacies, and platforms Conceptions of teachers, reading, readers, and texts, and the role of affect, cognition, and social-emotional learning in the reading process New methods for researching reading instruction, with attention to equity, inclusion, and education policies Language development and reading comprehension Instructional practices to promote reading development and comprehension for diverse groups of readers Each volume of this handbook has come to define the field for the period of time it covers, and this volume is no exception, providing a definitive compilation of current reading research. This is a must-have resource for all students, teachers, reading specialists, and researchers focused on and interested in reading and literacy research, and improving both instruction and programs to cultivate strong readers and teachers.

The Handbook of Reading Research is the research Handbook for the field. Each volume has come to define the field for the period of time it covers. Volume IV follows in this tradition. The editors extensively reviewed the reading research literature since the publication of Volume III in 2000, as portrayed in a wide array of research and practitioner-based journals and books, to identify the themes and topics covered. As in previous volumes, the focus is on reading research, rather than a range of literate practices. When taken as a set, the four volumes provide a definitive history of reading research. Volume IV brings the field authoritatively and comprehensively up-to-date.

This landmark volume articulates and develops the argument that new directions in sociocultural theory are needed in order to address important issues of identity, agency, and power that are central to understanding literacy research and literacy learning as social and cultural practices. With an overarching focus on the research process as it relates to sociocultural research, the book is organized around two themes: conceptual frameworks and knowledge sources.
*Part I, " Rethinking Conceptual Frameworks, " offers new theoretical lenses for reconsidering key concepts traditionally associated with sociocultural theory, such as activity, history, community, and the ways they are conceptualized and under-conceptualized within sociocultural theory.
*Part II, " Rethinking Knowledge and Representation, " considers the tensions and possibilities related to how research knowledge is produced, represented, and disseminated or shared-- challenging the locus of authority in research relationships, asking who is authorized to be a legitimate knowledge source, for what purposes, and for which audiences or stakeholders.

Employing the lens of " critical sociocultural research, " this book focuses on the central role of language and identity in learning and literacy practices. It is intended for scholars, researchers, and graduate students in literacy education, social and cultural psychology, social foundations of education, educational anthropology, curriculum theory, and qualitative research in education.

"Constructions of Literacy" explores and represents, through a series of cases and commentaries, how and why secondary school teachers and students use literacy in formal and informal learning settings. As used in the context of this book, secondary literacy refers to speaking, listening, reading, writing, and performing. It also refers to how these processes or events are constructed, negotiated, and used for specific purposes by teachers and students as they engage in various classroom, school, and community practices and interactions.
The authors operate from a stance that literacy is socially, culturally, and historically constructed. They recognize that there are many different perspectives on how that construction occurs--some arguing for institutional and structural influences--others suggesting that people have some degree of agency within the constraints imposed by larger structures. A distinguishing feature of the volume is that the contributors explore and make explicit "differing" perspectives on literacy as a social construction.
The volume is built around case studies of secondary school teachers' and students' literacy practices inside and outside of schools. The cases include diverse (critical, cultural, feminist, interpretive, phenomenological, and postmodern) theoretical and epistemological perspectives and research methodologies, making this one of the first collections of studies in secondary content area classrooms conducted from multiple perspectives. It concludes with two Commentaries, one by Donna Alvermann and one by David Bloome, in which they discuss and critique the contributions made from the different perspectives and grapple with how they simultaneously illuminate and confuse issues in literacy theory, research, and practice.
Preservice and in-service teachers, school professionals, and researchers in literacy education, secondary education, and curriculum theory will find this book stimulating and informative. It will help them analyze the complexities of secondary literacy teaching and learning, and examine their own understandings of literacy within their own literacy contexts.