Reading is key in all aspects of education and improving reading instruction continues to be an issue of national focus. Although there is considerable research on the nature of teaching reading from a variety of viewpoints, little has focused on student perspectives, particularly at younger levels. The purpose of this case study is to describe…

This study examines the relations among the classroom literacy environment, children's interest and engagement in literacy activities, and children's early reading skills in a sample of 167 children aged 4 and 5 years enrolled in 31 Head Start classrooms. Researchers rated the classroom literacy environment. Teachers reported on children's…

This article describes the preschool program at Missouri State University where deaf and hard of hearing children with all communication modalities and all styles of personal assistive listening devices are served. The job of the early intervention providers is to model for parents what high expectations look like and how to translate those…

This study estimates program effects (English immersion versus primary language instruction using varying degrees of Spanish) upon English and Spanish word identification in the context of changing classrooms (cross-classification) from kindergarten through second grade. Letter-word identification is an important predictor of early reading…

The purpose of this research-to-practice article is to describe the literacy and oral language professional development (PD) model that took place in a 3-year Early Reading First project in 9 Head Start and community-based school classrooms. Through our data-driven PD model, we provided 55 hr of training workshops for all classroom teaching staff…

The purpose of this article is to describe the professional development (PD) model for preschool literacy and language instruction that took place in a 3-year, 2-tiered Early Reading First project in 9 Head Start and community-based school classrooms. In our tiered model, the Tier 1 level was classroom instruction and Tier 2 was intervention…

Relations between early problem behavior in preschool classrooms and a comprehensive set of school readiness outcomes were examined for a stratified random sample (N = 256) of 4-year-old children enrolled in a large, urban school district Head Start program. A series of multilevel models examined the unique contribution of early problem behavior…

Bringing together leading scholars, this book describes proven ways to enhance early literacy skills in 3- and 4-year-olds, especially those from low-income families. Presented are scientifically based methods and approaches that are being applied in Early Reading First programs around the country. Important topics include promoting oral language…

A variety of preschool curricula is available and in widespread use, however, there is a lack of evidence from rigorous evaluations regarding the effects of these curricula on children's school readiness. The lack of such information is important as early childhood center-based programs have been a major, sometimes the sole, component of a number…