Development efforts, the 44 schools in this study increased students' reading proficiency. Over the years, teams of teachers from each school were provided professional development and opportunities to lead their colleagues in implementation of the instructional framework. The teachers used their instructional materials as resources to plan…

Collaboration and reflection are critical to effective teaching and student progress in reading. Responding to the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students who struggle in reading is a persistent challenge for teachers, especially those in urban settings. Conversations between literacy coaches and teachers in urban settings provide…

Increasingly, mainstream U.S. classrooms include children who are English-language learners (ELLs). As a result, teachers need to become more aware of ways to assess the literacy progress of their ELL students. The first type of assessment that teachers need to make is to determine ELLs' literacy backgrounds. Teachers can use predictability logs…

In this year's Distinguished Educator department, we feature six educators whose research has focused on the role of early literacy in early childhood education. Each of the six addresses a vitally important aspect of early childhood literacy teaching and learning. Sections include: "Working with Families as Partners in Early Literacy," by Dorothy…

What teaching strategies must teachers of reading be able to perform and how are these strategies applied effectively in teaching children to read? This article attempts to answer these two important questions. One key element of a successful reading program focuses on the teacher. A brief review of the teacher effectiveness literature, including…

Reports that the use of an evaluation instrument as part of a staff development project indicated that the quality of teaching methodology could be measured and improved. (Author/FL)

Offers five questions that teachers may use to examine and evaluate their daily lessons while carefully observing their students. (SR)

Discusses a study by Greta Morine-Dershimer that investigated the role of teacher praise in shaping student perceptions of classroom activities. (FL)

Provides a research-based description of the distinguishing qualities of excellent classroom reading teachers. Discusses what excellent reading teachers know about reading development, how they assess student progress, what kinds of reading materials they use in their classrooms, how they organize classrooms for instruction, and how they interact…