For this content analysis study, the author examined and cross‐compared the various ways in which eight informal reading inventories (IRIs) published from 2004 to 2008 address key issues relevant to new U.S. federal guidelines and the National Reading Panel's five critical components of reading instruction. Results suggest the IRIs range in technical rigor, with only one providing sufficient reliability data to support use of alternate forms. Measures for comprehension and vocabulary are more common than for fluency, phonemic awareness, and phonics. Some of the IRI authors offer passages in Spanish. All of the IRIs have their strengths and limitations, but each one offers special features that set it apart from the others. Results have implications for literacy‐related professionals searching for IRIs well‐suited to various educational settings and classroom contexts.

This research synthesis examines 21 content‐analysis studies conducted between 1966 and 2003 that focused on Hispanic portrayal in children's books. Specifically, it looks at how the literature has evolved in terms of amount of representation, characters' roles, and stereotyping. Findings vary by book type, Hispanic subgroup, and comparative reference points, but overall they suggest there are currently more books with Hispanic characters and themes. However, relative to Hispanic presence in the United States today versus 40 years ago, proportionate portrayal in children's literature has lost ground. Noted improvements include less stereotyping, particularly for Mexican American and male characters. More progress is needed in the portrayal of Hispanics with disabilities and other exceptionalities and of those at varied socioeconomic levels, in upper‐class neighborhoods, and in leadership roles in homes and professions. New instructional uses are noted for the books, which increasingly contain special features (e.g., glossaries, author notes) and additional linguistic components (e.g., interlingual text, dual‐language text). Websites and other resources are recommended for locating criteria useful in judging book quality, specific names of award‐winning book titles, and a framework for Latino literature study. The author concludes that while improvement in Hispanic portrayal is evident, more progress is needed.

Research shows graduates of teacher education programs do not always transfer, or apply, the best practices they learn to instructional practice due to factors related to course features, the student, and workplace environment (e.g., Brown & Bentley, 2004;de Jong et al., 2010

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