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Experts Advisory: The University at Albany's Harry Potter Experts

ALBANY, N.Y. (July 5, 2007) -- University at Albany faculty experts discuss Harry Potter as a pop culture phenomenon and its impact on literacy.

IMPACT ON LITERACY: UAlbany Center on English Learning and Achievement director Judith Langer's research on reading comprehension has changed the way national and state tests assess students' literacy achievement, and her studies of reading and writing have helped develop more thought-provoking instruction. She can help explain Harry Potter's impact on reading in the classroom.

HARRY POTTER, POP CULTURE PHENOMENON: Kids dragging their parents out of bed to get in line to be the first to read a book hundreds of pages long! Is this a science fiction movie about alternate reality? No, it's the moment children across the country have been waiting for since J.K. Rowling first announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final chapter in the Harry Potter saga, would come out on July 21. Richard Lachmann explains how Harry has had children all over the world marking calendars and planning all-night reading marathons.

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