Guides from Other Organizations

Parent–teacher conferences are an important component of ongoing home-school communication and family involvement in children's education. These three tip sheets for principals, teachers, and parents can help ensure that conferences achieve their maximum potential. Designed to be used as a set, the tip sheets combine consistent information with targeted suggestions, so that parents and educators enter conferences with shared expectations and increased ability to work together to improve children's educational outcomes.

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This guide provides valuable information for school leaders as they develop a comprehensive assessment plan as a critical element for preventing reading difficulties. The general principles outlined in this document, such as the early identification of students who are struggling in learning to read, are all based on scientific findings, but the detailed recommendations for implementation derived from practical experiences in helping many school leaders implement successful plans.

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This booklet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides parents with a checklist of key cognitive and physical milestones from 6 months to 4 years, ways to help your child learn and grow, and what to do if you're concerned about a developmental delay.

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This report published on the Best Evidence Encyclopedia (BEE) website provides an extensive review of the research on the outcomes of 27 early childhood programs. Six of the programs produced strong evidence of effectiveness in language, literacy, and/or phonological awareness. All of the effective programs had explicit academic content, a balance of teacher-led and child-initiated activity, and significant training and follow-up support. Developed by Johns Hopkins University, Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education.

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The target audience for this guide is a broad spectrum of school practitioners such as administrators, curriculum specialists, coaches, staff development specialists and teachers who face the challenge of providing effective literacy instruction for English language learners in the elementary grades. The guide also aims to reach district-level administrators who develop practice and policy options for their schools. Developed by the U.S. Department of Education.

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This guide offers five specific recommendations to help educators identify struggling readers and implement evidence-based strategies to promote their reading achievement. Teachers and reading specialists can utilize these strategies to implement RtI and multi-tier intervention methods and frameworks at the classroom or school level. Recommendations cover how to screen students for reading problems, design a multi-tier intervention program, adjust instruction to help struggling readers, and monitor student progress. Developed by the U.S. Department of Education.

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This guide offers five recommendations to help educators effectively use data to monitor students' academic progress and evaluate instructional practices. The guide recommends that schools set a clear vision for schoolwide data use, develop a data-driven culture, and make data part of an ongoing cycle of instructional improvement. The guide also recommends teaching students how to use their own data to set learning goals. Developed by the Department of Education.

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Students who read with understanding at an early age gain access to a broader range of texts, knowledge, and educational opportunities, making early reading comprehension instruction particularly critical. This guide recommends five specific steps that teachers, reading coaches, and principals can take to successfully improve reading comprehension for young readers. Developed by the U.S. Department of Education.

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By taking the time to read to and with their children, fathers can play an important role in helping children learn to read. Dad's Playbook tells the stories of 20 dads from different walks of life who are giving their kids the best shot at a bright future by helping them learn to read. This publication also teaches dads about the five skills children need to be readers by third grade and helps dads incorporate reading into everyday activities.

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Parents are a child's first and most important teacher. This series of booklets gives parents easy-to-adapt ideas on how to help their young child get ready to read. Each booklet includes a story that models effective ways to introduce books and reading to a young child, suggested activities, and a checklist to guide parents as they think about their child's reading skills.

• Shining Stars: Toddlers Get Ready to Read (435K)*
• Shining Stars: Preschoolers Get Ready to Read (397K)*
• Shining Stars: Kindergartners Learn to Read (369K)*
• Shining Stars: First Graders Learn to Read (314K)*
• Shining Stars: Second & Third Graders Learn to Read (400K)*

If you are a parent of a child with a disability, please visit the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Tool Kit website for information made just for parents. Topics include assessment issues, instructional practices, behavior, and accommodations.

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This 60-page booklet features dozens of fun activities parents can use to build the language skills of young children from birth to age 6. It has a reading checklist, typical language accomplishments for different age groups, and resources for children with reading problems or learning disabilities. Developed by the U.S. Department of Education.

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• Download Spanish guide (710 KB)*

This report discusses the current state of teacher preparation in reading. It reviews the reading research and describes the knowledge base that is essential for teacher candidates and practicing teachers to master if they are to be successful in teaching all children to read well. Developed by the American Federation of Teachers.

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This guide draws from research to provide practical tips to foster children's language abilities, increase their knowledge, help them become familiar with books and other printed materials, learn letters and sounds, and recognize numbers and learn to count. Developed by the Early Childhood-Head Start Task Force.

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This publication offers practical ideas parents can use to help get their children ready to read and strengthen their reading skills. It lists guidelines for identifying a good early reading program, and describes the five essential components of reading. A brief sketch of the No Child Left Behind law is also included. Developed by the U.S. Department of Education.

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• Download Spanish guide (148K PDF)*

This 64-page booklet summarizes what National Reading Panel researchers have discovered about how to teach children to read successfully. Clearly written and well organized, the guide lists the main research findings related to phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension and suggests best instructional practices in each area. Developed by The Partnership for Reading.

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• Download black and white guide (640K PDF)*

This brochure describes the National Reading Panel's findings on how to help children learn to read. Designed for parents, it lists the most important things parents should see teachers doing at school, and gives suggestions for how to help a child at home. Developed by The Partnership for Reading.

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• Download Spanish Guide, La Lectura es lo Primero (230 KB)*

This brochure offers families advice on helping children succeed in school. It includes academic tips in each core subject from prekindergarten through grade 12, and provides handy information for parents and guardians on many of the key issues affecting their children's education. Topics include vocational education, the No Child Left Behind Act, standards and testing, and resources for English language learners and students with disabilities. Developed by the American Federation of Teachers.

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• Download Spanish guide (12.2MB PDF)*

This guide highlights the enormous amount of literacy resources available from the U.S. Department of Education through its clearinghouses, networks, projects, and partnerships. Developed by the Federation for Children With Special Needs and the Parents' Place, a Massachusetts statewide Parent Information and Resource Center.

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This 12-page booklet for parents and caregivers describes key skill areas children need to develop to become lifelong enthusiastic learners and what adults can do to support that development. Developed by Zero to Three.

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A Compact for Reading is a written agreement among families, teachers, principals, and students to work together to improve the reading skills of kindergarten through third grade students. The guide helps individuals set reading goals. The School-Home Links (SHL) Reading Kits are a collection of research-based activities designed to help families reinforce the reading and language arts skills that their children are learning at school. Developed by the U.S. Department of Education.

• Download "A Compact for Reading" (625K PDF)*
• Download SHL: Kindergarten (1.7MB PDF)*
• Download SHL: Kindergarten (en español) (1.7MB PDF)*
• Download SHL: 1st Grade (2.2MB PDF)*
• Download SHL: 1st Grade (en español) (2.2MB PDF)*
• Download SHL: 2nd Grade (1.7MB PDF)*
• Download SHL: 2nd Grade (en español) (1.7MB PDF)*
• Download SHL: 3rd Grade (2.8MB PDF)*
• Download SHL: 3rd Grade (en español) (2.8MB PDF)*

This booklet offers advice for parents of children from grades K-3 on how to support reading development at home and how to recognize effective instruction in their children's classrooms. Developed by The Partnership for Reading.

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• Download black and white guide (370K PDF)*

Researchers have found that children begin to learn reading and writing at home, long before they go to school. This booklet summarizes the most important research findings, defines important terms, and lists reading skills that kids at different ages are developing. Developed by The Partnership for Reading.

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• Download black and white guide (340K PDF)*