• Michigan State University's College of Education Welcomes: Dr. Douglas K. Hartman
  • Douglas K. Hartman was recently named Professor of Literacy and Technology and co-director of MSUs Literacy Achievement Research Center (LARC). He serves as Senior Editor of the Journal of Literacy Research, Co-Director and Senior Scientist in the New Literacies Research Lab, and Research Fellow with the Center for Health, Intervention, & Prevention. His research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, North Central Regional Educational Research Lab, and the International Reading Association. Dr. Hartmans research interests focus on new literacies, adolescent literacy, and the history of literacy. His current and forthcoming publications include: The Influence of Media on Literacy in the New Millennium in Reading Research Quarterly, The Consequences of New Literacies, Poverty, and NCLB for Diverse Learners in the Handbook of Research on Literacy Instruction, and Research on Instruction & Assessment in the New Literacies in Comprehension Instruction: Research-Based Practices. Dr. Hartman recently received the Albert J. Kingston Award for distinguished service to the field of reading and literacy research and has been a visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley and Teachers College, Columbia University.

• NGS/LARC Literacy Institute 2008
  • Theme: "Connecting Science and Literacy to Promote Student Success"
  • When: July 9-10
  • Where: National Geographic Headquarters, Washington, DC
  • For more details, please visit http://www.literacyinstitute.org/

• New Assessment Materials Now Available: The Concepts of Comprehension Assessment (COCA)™ and the Informational Strategic Cloze Assessment (ISCA)™
  • We are pleased to announce the availability of two new assessments of informational reading comprehension: The Concepts of Comprehension Assessment (COCA)™ for grades one and two and the Informational Strategic Cloze Assessment (ISCA)™ for grades one, two, and three. Both assessments are designed to measure four contributors to reading comprehension: comprehension strategy use, vocabulary strategy use and knowledge, knowledge of informational text features, and comprehension of graphics in the context of text.
  • We are making the ISCA and COCA assessments and all associated materials (including administration and scoring training videos) available free for download at the following links:
    • Informational Strategic Cloze Assessment (ISCA)™
    • Concepts of Comprehension Assessment (COCA)™
  • We are grateful for generous support provided to this project by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Literacy Achievement Research Center.

• Closing Out Another Successful Year of Literacy Colloquy
  • Jennifer Danridge Turner of the University of Maryland, College Park gave this year's final Literacy Colloquy presentation: "Seeing Possibilities in Practice: The Role of Vision in Preparing Literacy Teachers for Diversity." Information about all of the 2007-2008 Colloquy sessions is available by clicking here. Literacy Colloquy will resume in September, so stay posted for information about next year's schedule of presentations.

• Michigan Reading Association - 2008 Research Pre-Conference
  • The 2008 MRA Research Pre-Conference, held Friday, March 14, 2008, had the highest attendance ever for the event. Nearly 500 literacy professionals gathered in Detroit to spend the day learning more about "The Research and Practice of Essential Reading Instruction" from researchers and literacy consultants. Downloadable handouts and presentation materials will soon be available online. Click here to view the online program and see a list of sessions.

• Help spread the word about LARC!
  • Download our 2008 informational flyer

• Third Annual LARC Symposium
• Writing Research We Have, Writing Research We Need
• Held Friday, October 26, 2007
• Download a symposium program. (PDF file)
• Click here to see PowerPoint slides and streaming video of presentations

• LARC Co-Director Nell K. Duke gives Research Address at the Annual Meeting of the International Reading Association, May 13 - 17, 2007, Toronto, Canada.
  • Title: Some Directions for Research and Practice in Literacy Education
  • Duke discussed several research studies of the last five years that suggest new directions for innovative practice and research in literacy education.
  • Powerpoint slides

• A keynote address by Michael Pressley at the 2006 Reading Research Conference of the International Reading Association
  • Title: "What the Future of Reading Research Could Be"
  • Click here to access a online video and downloadable conference paper

• 5-page Comprehension Instruction Summary mentioned in Instructor Magazine (by Michael Pressley)
  • Click here to read this summary (PDF).

• Subscribe to the newsletter
  • Click here to receive periodic emails from LARC announcing new items on this site, upcoming conferences, and more.