More often than not in the United States, newspaper headlines and feature stories on national television networks focus on early literacy instruction and the socalled reading wars between advocates of direct skills instruction and those who favor more holistic approaches to teaching young children to read print text. As a result, adolescents and their specialized needs for literacy instruction at the middle and high school level often go unnoticed by policy makers and the general public. This is indeed unfortunate. Although the neglect of older readers might signal that all is well in the area of adolescent literacy instruction, such is not the case. Despite the work of conscientious teachers, reading supervisors, curriculum coordinators, and principals in middle schools and high schools across the country, young people's literacy skills are not keeping pace with societal demands of living in an information age that changes rapidly and shows no sign of slowing.

This study examined the relationship between two variable sets: (a) epistemological beliefs (quick learning, simple knowledge, certain knowledge, and innate ability) and learned helplessness and (b) conceptual understanding and application reasoning in conceptual change learning (CCL). Hypothetical dimensions underlying the Epistemological Belief Questionnaire and effects of different kinds of prior knowledge on CCL were explored with 212 students in Grades 9-12 in 13 science classes at a rural public high school in Georgia. Exploratory factor analyses revealed 3 factors underlying epistemological beliefs: Quick Learning, Simple-Certain Knowledge, and Innate Ability. Canonical correlation analyses show that beliefs about Simple-Certain Knowledge contribute the most to CCL, whereas beliefs about Innate Ability contribute the least. Beliefs about Simple-Certain Knowledge and Quick Learning are important factors in CCL.

This article establishes a broad framework from which to interpret and evaluate the reading–science learning–writing connection. The presentation of breakthroughs, barriers, and promises is intended to outline the established links between, to identify current bottlenecks in thinking about, and to highlight productive inquiries into, print‐based languages and scientific understanding. The ideas presented come from various disciplines connected to science education. The ideas are meant to be informative, provocative, integrative, supportive, and without hidden agenda.

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