Reading Matters During the summer months, English education major Joel Neft conducted research to examine the reading habits of African American students. While leading middle-schoolers in discussions about reading, Neft analyzed the students' habits by exploring several factors, including the number and types of reading materials available to the children at home and the frequency of visits to their local library. In addition, Neft sought insight from the children regarding their personal abilities, motivation, and attitudes toward reading. "Ultimately, the students that are reading each summer continue to improve, and those who don't continue to drop, and the disparity increases," he explained. Miami's Summer Scholars program enabled Neft to work closely with mentor Alan Frager, a professor of teacher education at Miami. "He has the bigger vision," Neft said about Frager, a close friend. "If you have a good mentor, nothing should be that difficult because your mentor should be able to help you through the process." In addition to interviews with students at the Cincinnati branch of Summer Bridge, a non-profit educational program, Neft interpreted related data from surveys distributed to students in the sixth through eighth grades. "Surveys can only tell you so much, and surveys are so flawed," he said. "The focus groups get experiences and stories out of the kids. It's more descriptive research."

• Cultivating Leadership • Culture Study by Design • The Importance of Ground Work • Inside Washington • Job Searching of a Different Kind • On Her Way to the Top • One of the Crew • A Private Burden for Public Health • Reading Matters • Researching History Where It was Made • Shaping Policy through Medical Research • The Thrill of Discovery • The Truth About AIDS • Working for a Green Space "I have learned the fundamentals of accounting in classes, [but] these lessons are only the base knowledge necessary for work in the business world." —Diana Williams Read more >>