Research Partnerships
Human Resource Development Canada and the National Literacy Secretariat provided the financial support without which the project might not have been able to proceed in such a timely manner. The time allowed us to spend fourteen in school months with the children and teachers. The teachers welcomed the volunteer mentors, the reading assessors, and the researchers into their classrooms. The researchers found themselves participating in the literature circles as well as dialoguing with and listening to children's responses. We drew on the teachers' experience with literacy. Their insights along with the assessors' results validated the project objectives for us. We had common concerns and worked together with the children to improve literacy results.

The partnerships amongst the researchers, the principal, teachers and children at the research school, School District 18, St. Thomas University, the volunteer mentors, and the reading assessors contributed to the success of the project.

The Literacy Education Model and Successful Readers
In the transaction model, the learner is expected to interact with the content and the teacher to develop both socially-approved and personally relevant knowledge, skills and values. The role of the teacher is to manage the transaction process so that, while outcomes may vary from one learner to another, all outcomes fall within acceptable parameters. The graphic in Figure 11 represents the transactions that a successful reader makes.