Table of Contents

Introduction, David K. Dickinson and Susan B. Neuman

I. Cognitive and Linguistic Building Blocks of Early Literacy Development

1. A Window of Opportunity We Must Open to All: The Case for Preschool With High-Quality Support for Language and Literacy, David K. Dickinson, Allyssa McCabe, and Marilyn J. Essex

2. The Knowledge Gap: Implications for Early Education, Susan B. Neuman

3. Vocabulary Development and Instruction: A Prerequisite for School Learning, Andrew Biemiller

4. Literacy Development: Insights from Research on Skilled Reading, Jane Ashby and Keith Rayner

5. Neurobiological Investigations of Skilled and Impaired Reading, Kenneth R. Pugh, Rebecca Sandak, Stephen J. Frost, Dina Moore, and W. Einar Mencl

II. Phonemic Awareness and Letter Knowledge

6. Conceptualizing Phonological Processing Skills in Prereaders, Christopher J. Lonigan

7. The Development of Phonological Sensitivity, Stephen R. Burgess

8. Phonemic Awareness and Reading: Beyond the Growth of Initial Reading Accuracy, Beth M. Phillips and Joseph K. Torgesen

9. The Roots of Learning to Read and Write: Acquisition of Letters and Phonemic Awareness, Linnea C. Ehri and Theresa Roberts

III. Families and Relationships: Socioemotional and Linguistic Supports

10. The Influence of Parenting on Emerging Literacy Skills, Susan H. Landry and Karen E. Smith

11. Teacher-Child Relationships in Early Literacy, Robert C. Pianta

12. Environmental Supports for Language Acquisition, Erika Hoff

13. The Misunderstood Giant: On the Predictive Role of Early Vocabulary to Future Reading, Monique Sénéchal, Gene Ouellette, and Donna Rodney

IV. Cultural and Linguistic Diversity

14. Effective Interventions for English Language Learners (Spanish-English) at Risk for Reading Difficulties, Sharon Vaughn, Sylvia Linan-Thompson, Sharolyn Pollard-Durodola, Patricia G. Mathes, and Elsa Cárdenas Hagan

15. Recent Research on the Language and Literacy Skills of African American Students in the Early Years, Holly K. Craig and Julie A. Washington

16. Cultural Diversity in Early Literacy: Findings in Dutch Studies, Paul P. M. Leseman and Cathy van Tuijl

17. Considering Culture in Research-Based Interventions to Support Early Literacy, Stuart McNaughton

V. Supporting Literacy in Preschool Classrooms

18. Vygotskian Perspectives on Teaching and Learning Early Literacy, Elena Bodrova and Deborah J. Leong

19. Preschool Classroom Environments and the Quantity and Quality of Children's Literacy and Language Behaviors, Dale C. Farran, Canan Aydogan, Shin Ji Kang, and Mark W. Lipsey

20. The Relationships between Sociodramatic Play and Literacy Development, Lesley Mandel Morrow and Judith A. Schickedanz

21. Encouraging Young Children's Language Interactions with Stories, Margaret G. McKeown and Isabel L. Beck

22. Early Literacy Policy and Pedagogy, Kathleen Roskos and Carol Vukelich

VI. Programmatic Interventions During the Preschool Years

23. Reading Ahead: Effective Interventions for Young Children's Early Literacy Development, Pia Rebello Britto, Allison S. Fuligni, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

24. A Pediatric Approach to Early Literacy, Robert Needlman, Perri Klass, and Barry Zuckerman

25. Emergent Literacy of Low-Income Children in Head Start: Relationships with Child and Family Characteristics, Program Factors, and Classroom Quality, Nicholas Zill and Gary Resnick

VII. Toward Effective Primary Grade Instruction

26. The Transition to School, Frederick J. Morrison, Carol McDonald Connor, and Heather J. Bachman

27. Perspectives on the Difficulty of Beginning Reading Texts, Elfrieda H. Hiebert and Heidi Anne E. Mesmer

28. The Impact of Early School Experiences on Initial Reading, Connie Juel

29. Policy Decisions in Early Literacy Assessment, Terry Salinger

30. Early Education Interventions: Principles of Effective and Sustained Benefits from Targeted Early Education Programs, Sharon Landesman Ramey and Craig T. Ramey

About the Author

David K. Dickinson, EdD, is a professor at the Peabody School of Education, Vanderbilt University. He received his doctoral training at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education after teaching elementary school in the Philadelphia area for 5 years. Since the early 1980s he has studied language and early literacy development among low-income populations, with a focus on the role of oral language in literacy development. Dr. Dickinson has examined the interrelationships among language, print skills, and phonemic awareness and has conducted detailed studies of language use patterns in early childhood classrooms. He helped create tools for describing literacy support in preschool classrooms, and developed and studied approaches to providing professional development for preschool teachers. Widely published, Dr. Dickinson has served on numerous advisory boards and recently was on a commission assisting the National Association for the Education of Young Children with revising its accreditation standards.

Susan B. Neuman, EdD, a professor in educational studies specializing in early literacy development, returned to the University of Michigan in 2004 after a 2-year hiatus, during which she served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. Her research and teaching interests include early childhood policy, curriculum, and early reading instruction. In her role as Assistant Secretary, she established the Reading First program and the Early Reading First program, and was responsible for all activities in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Dr. Neuman recently received an honorary doctorate from the California State University-Hayward, where she also conducted her master's work in reading and curriculum. Widely published, she received her doctorate from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

Reviews

Amidst a sea of political controversy surrounding early reading instruction, this book offers the most up-to-date and definitive research perspectives available today. While dealing fully and well with the importance of phonemic awareness and decoding, it places reading within the wider context of language development and child development. I particularly applaud the stress on children, rich and poor, learning to read in such a way that they don’t just pass reading tests, but are successful learners in the content areas throughout their school years. This book is essential reading, cover to cover, for anyone interested in reading and literacy.--James Paul Gee, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison

This extraordinarily valuable resource brings together the work of knowledgeable and credible scholars in a variety of areas related to early literacy research. Writing in a manner that is accessible to both researchers and practitioners, the contributors go beyond updating us on the vast amount of accumulated knowledge on emerging and early literacy. They help us make sense of its applications to our work with young children and those who care for and teach them.--Dorothy S. Strickland, PhD, Department of Learning and Teaching, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

This book is brimming with research-based insights into foundational topics in early literacy learning and instruction, including vocabulary development, phonemic awareness, the role of policy, and sociocognition. It also contributes to a growing knowledge base in such cutting-edge areas as the role of caregiver-teacher collaboration, second language learning, brain imaging, and early educational interventions. Delving deeply into early childhood literacy issues, this book will make a powerful contribution as a guiding text for researchers, graduate students, and educators.--Linda D. Labbo, PhD, Department of Language and Literacy, University of Georgia

I used both Volumes 1 and 2 in a course on theory and research in early literacy. The texts provided my graduate students with contemporary theoretical frameworks and addressed a range of questions commonly asked by those engaged in dissertation research. I would definitely use these books again.--Olivia Saracho, PhD, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Maryland, College Park -