It is increasingly clear that the Internet will be the defining technology for reading, writing, and communication in the 21st century. But without the ability to locate information in an efficient and effective manner, students' access to information on the Internet is limited. This article introduces SEARCH, a strategy classroom teachers can use to assist students in becoming better searchers. SEARCH includes setting a purpose, employing effective search strategies, analyzing search engine results, reading critically and synthesizing information, citing sources, and a reflective component in which students ask “How successful was the search?” in order to review the success of the techniques implemented. Additional resources that provide practice in searching for information on the Internet are also presented.

donald j. leu, university of connecticut; charles k. kinzer, teachers college, columbia university; julie coiro, university of rhode island; jill castek, portland state university; and laurie a. henry, university of kentucky LITERACY AS DEIXIS 1. Global economic competition within economies based increasingly on the effective use of information and communication. 2. The rapid appearance of the Internet in both our professional and personal lives. 3. Public policy initiatives by nations that integrate literacy and the Internet into instruction.

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This commentary explores pedagogical, societal, and political aspects of the college/career readiness reform movement as it impacts students in secondary classrooms. The authors begin with a snapshot of the students often left in the shadows of educational reform efforts, leaving them academically underprepared and destined for college developmental education. Then, the authors share their perspective related to the potential of the Common Core State Standards to raise student achievement and close achievement gaps. Finally, they highlight college preparation programs that seek to address this gap, along with promising practices supporting the aspirations of these students to pursue educational opportunities beyond secondary school.

This chapter is based on a comparative, qualitative study that explored social equity issues related to technology integration among middle schools located in the United States of America. Differences between economically privileged and economically disadvantaged school districts were explored to determine if inequalities related to technology integration generally, and the development of multiliteracies specifically, exist. Participants included middle school students from grades 5 to 8, and teachers and administrators from nine schools located in four different school districts. Data included transcripts from interviews and focus groups, observational field notes, and various school artifacts collected from the research sites. Using these data, an exploration of the contextual factors that might influence the inclusion of instruction for new literacies directly related to literacy activities on the Internet was conducted. The results suggest that a disparity does exist along economic lines and several contextual factors were identified that may impede the development of the new literacies including the use of the Internet as an information resource among middle school students in the United States.