It might come as a surprise that a guy who wrote a book called Summer Reading is Killing Me is really worried about what boys aren't reading. Author Jon Scieszka is so alarmed by studies that show that boys lag behind in reading that he started a literary initiative for boys called GUYS READ. Andrea Grazzini Walstrom has more on his effort.

The Educational Testing Service (the SAT people) offers a briefing in lay language with some detail on key components of the No Child Left Behind Act.

A new study by St. Joseph College has found that low-income children attending preschool alongside more affluent peers learned vocabulary and language skills six times faster than those schooled exclusively with other low-income children.

The National Institute for Literacy provides the LINCS Special Collections, one-stop electronic gateways to specialized information on high-quality literacy practices and materials for use in adult education and literacy programs.

As the numbers of children diagnosed with autism climbs, more families, teachers and therapists are looking for guidance. Exiting Nirvana: A Daughter's Life with Autism offers a look at how autism has been experienced by Jessy Park, now 40, and her family. This review by Abigail Reifsnyder first appeared in The Berkshire Eagle.

The stubborn problem of poor academic achievement among many children in foster families is hard to solve. But Margaret Genisio, a reading and literacy professor at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, says that foster parents can take some simple steps to help.

Baby TALK is a model program that encourages parents to read aloud to their children and provides them with basic child development information as well as suggestions for developmentally appropriate activities.

Far from rendering reading obsolete, the digital age has raised the stakes on literacy. Our Literacy and Reading topic page has original articles, tips and links to organizations to help parents and caring adults encourage kids of all ages to read, and harness the power of words.

The National Center for Family Literacy celebrates National Family Literacy Day on November 1st. NCFL encourages everyone to build awareness about the importance of families working together to encourage literacy and reading.

This RAND report emphasizes the importance of reading comprehension and warns against oversimplifying reading
achievement by believing that solely by getting kids reading fluently by the end of third grade, "we're home free."