Arizona State University

ASU Literacy Education Scholar Frank Serafini

What Do Elementary School Kids Have on College Students?

Frank Serafini is a literacy education scholar at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College as well as an author, illustrator, photographer, and musician; previously, he was an elementary school teacher and literacy specialist. Before participating in a panel on Arizona’s new policy holding back third graders who can’t read, he offered shout-outs to Where the Wild Things Are, his mother’s lasagna, and the truffle capital of the world in the Zócalo green room.

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If You Can Read This, You May Advance to Fourth Grade

Arizona Is Holding Back a Lot of Third Graders. Is It a Good Idea?

by Sarah Rothbard |

A new law in Arizona requires the state to fail—and hold back—third graders who haven’t learned to read. An estimated 1,500 students will be held back this year. Why are …

Nine Years Old and Stumped By Words on Paper

We’ve Experimented a Lot To Get Children To Read By Third Grade. Why Don’t We Have More to Show For It?

This year, Arizona joins 13 other states by implementing a law to hold back third-grade students who haven’t yet learned to read. Supporters of the law feel it prevents children …

Former Intel CEO Craig R. Barrett

He Loves His PC—and His Boron Fiber Fly Rod

Craig R. Barrett is the former CEO and president of Intel. Before talking with ASU President Michael Crow about the future of the computer chip, he sat down in the …

You Can’t Fight Infotainment

Journalists Figure Out The Brave New World of Celebrity, Politics, and the Internet

by Sarah Rothbard |

Joe Mathews, Zócalo California editor and author of The People’s Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger And the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy, learned about the perils entertainment culture can hold for political journalists …

Urban Planner Deirdre Pfeiffer

The Happy Commuter

Deirdre Pfeiffer is an assistant professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, where she studies the effects of housing planning and policies on …


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