ABSTRACT
According to the International Reading Association (1999), “adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs, run their households, act as citizens and conduct their personal lives” (p. 3). Despite these predictions, national assessment data suggest that few are prepared to take on these challenges. Fewer than one third of adolescents in the United States read profi ciently, and overall reading performance among 12th-grade students actually declined between 1992 and 2005 (Perie, Grigg, & Donahue, 2005). According to the 1998 NAEP results, an even smaller percentage-less than 5%—could extend or elaborate the meanings of the materials they read (Donahue, Voelkl, Campbell, & Mazzeo, 1999).
