Achieving Excellence in Preschool Literacy Instruction

by Justice, Laura M.; Vukelich, Carol; Teale, William H.

• ISBN13: 9781593856106
• ISBN10: 1593856105
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-11-28
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

High-quality preschool programs are essential to improving children’s outcomes in reading achievement and leveling language and literacy disparities among students from diverse backgrounds. Grounded in state-of-the-art research evidence, this practice-oriented book demonstrates how preschool professionals can create, evaluate, and sustain exemplary programs. Chapters from leading authorities cover coaching, assessment, and differentiation, as well as explicit strategies for teaching English language learners and helping at-risk readers. Discussion questions and suggested activities for professional development are included, as are reproducible assessment forms and planning tools for use in the classroom.

Author Biography

Laura M. Justice, PhD, is Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. A certified speech-language pathologist, her research and teaching interests include language disabilities, early literacy acquisition, parent-child interactions, and preschool quality. Dr. Justice’s research on these topics has been supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and the International Reading Association, and has received recognition from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (Editor’s Award, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology), the Council for Exceptional Children (Early Career Publication Award from the Division for Research), and the U.S. President (2005 Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering). She has coauthored several books on young children's language and literacy development.

 

Carol Vukelich, PhD, is the L. Sandra and Bruce L. Hammonds Professor in Teacher Education and Director of the Delaware Center for Teacher Education at the University of Delaware. Her research and teaching interests include children’s early literacy development and teachers’ professional development, specifically coaching and reflection strategies. Dr. Vukelich has served as President of the Association for Childhood Education International and the International Reading Association’s Literacy Development in Young Children Special Interest Group. She has coauthored several books and an early literacy curriculum program.

Table of Contents

Background	p. 1
Evidence for Creating, Expanding, Designing, and Improving High-Quality Preschool Programs	p. 5
The Scientifically Based Reading Research Approach to Early Literacy Instruction	p. 25
Establishing a Science of Professional Development for Early Education Programs: The Knowledge Application Information Systems Theory of Professional Development	p. 41
Professional Development and Teacher Support	p. 65
Models for Coaching: Making Them Work for Preschools	p. 69
Mentoring Preschool Teachers	p. 84
Formative Assessment of Classrooms: Using Classroom Observations to Improve Implementation Quality	p. 102
Are Early Childhood Classrooms Preparing Children to Be School Ready?: The CIRCLE Teacher Behavior Rating Scale	p. 120
It's in the Details: Approaches to Describing and Improving Preschool Classrooms	p. 136
Optimizing Early Learning Environments	p. 163
Characteristics of Classroom Environments Associated with Accelerated Literacy Development	p. 167
Increasing Children's Learning by Getting to the Bottom of Their Confusion	p. 182
Strategic and Intentional Shared Storybook Reading	p. 198
Differentiating Instruction in the Preschool Classroom: Bridging Emergent Literacy Instruction and Developmentally Appropriate Practice	p. 221
Language and Literacy Practices for English Language Learners in the Preschool Setting	p. 242
Making Data-Based Decisions	p. 261
Quality Counts: Design and Use of an Early Literacy Program Review Tool	p. 265
Indicators and Goals of High-Quality Program Evaluation for the Preschool Classroom	p. 284
How to Evaluate a Screening Process: The Vocabulary of Screening and What Educators Need to Know	p. 304
Curriculum-Based Measurement of Preschoolers' Early Literacy Skills	p. 317
Index	p. 339
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.