A new book for your professional reading

Important professional books — you know, the sort you need to have close at hand, come along every once in a while. We’ve gathered many of those titles in our Books About Reading, Writing, and Instruction section. Here you’ll find the citations for important work such as Chall’s Learning to Read: The Great Debate from 1967, Marilyn Adams’ 1990 book Learning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children (1998, Snow et al), and many more.

The foundational work keeps coming. In 2002, the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) was formed and sought to review the research on teaching literacy to preschool and kindergarten children. Their report came out in 2008 (full report; summary). The NELP report quickly became the go-to resource for current findings and best thoughts about teaching our youngest learners.

The book, Early Childhood Literacy, edited by Timothy Shanahan and Christopher J. Lonigan, promises to add itself to the list of foundational reading for those who study early literacy. The book uses the NELP report as its point of departure, and relies on the field’s top experts as chapter contributors. Through reading, you’ll be up to date on the impact of federal research, know the latest research on how to share books with children, understand how to best educate parents, appreciate the value of oral language, and understand what is known about interventions for kids with special needs. And more! With each topic you’ll learn key takeaways and recommendations for future directions in policy and practice.