Handbook on the Science of Early Literacy

Synthesizing the best current knowledge about early literacy, this comprehensive handbook brings together leading researchers from multiple disciplines. The volume identifies the instructional methods and areas of focus shown to be most effective for promoting young children's (PreK–2) growth in reading, writing, oral language, and the connections among them.

In 33 chapters, the Handbook covers conceptual foundations; development and instruction of both code- and meaning-related literacy skills; professional development and family engagement; supporting equity across populations; and learning beyond traditional boundaries, including digital and out-of-school contexts. Highlighted throughout are issues around access to high-quality instruction, working with multilingual populations, and data-based decision making and interventions.

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Table of Contents

Foreword, David K. Dickinson

Introduction, Sonia Q. Cabell, Susan B. Neuman, and Nicole Patton Terry

I. Conceptualizing the Science of Early Literacy

1. Simplicity Meets Complexity: Expanding the Simple View of Reading with the Direct and Indirect Effects Model of Reading, Young-Suk Grace Kim
2. Early Environmental Influences on Language, Meredith L. Rowe, Rachel R. Romeo, and Kathryn A. Leech sample
3. Prioritizing Dual Language Learners’ Language Comprehension Development to Support Later Reading Achievement, Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez
4. Early Literacy, Response to Intervention, and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, Dayna Russell Freudenthal, Mai W. Zaru, and Stephanie Al Otaiba
5. The Neuroscience of Early Literacy Development, Rachel R. Romeo

II. Development and Instruction of Code-Related Literacy Skills

6. Learning the Code, Barbara R. Foorman

7. The Science of Early Alphabet Instruction: What We Do and Do Not Know, Shayne B. Piasta

8. Invented Spelling: An Integrative Review of Descriptive, Correlational, and Causal Evidence, Monique Sénéchal, Gene Ouellette, and H. N. Lam Nguyen

9. Early Spelling Development: Influences, Theory, and Educational Implications, Nenagh Kemp and Rebecca Treiman

10. Supporting Students’ Early Writing Development through Data-Based Instruction, Kristen L. McMaster, Seyma Birinci, Emma Shanahan, and Erica Lembke

III. Development and Instruction of Meaning-Related Literacy Skills

11. Language Is the Basis of Skilled Reading Comprehension, Laura M. Justice and Hui Jiang

12. Language Interventions in Early Childhood: Summary and Implications from a Multistudy Program of Research, Beth M. Phillips

13. Content Literacy: Integrating Social Studies and Language, Sharolyn D. Pollard-Durodola and Jorge E. Gonzalez

14. Supporting Integrated Instruction in Science and Literacy in K-2 Classrooms, Tanya S. Wright and Amelia Wenk Gotwals

15. Leveraging Content-Rich English Language Arts Instruction in the Early Grades to Improve Children’s Language Comprehension, Sonia Q. Cabell and HyeJin Hwang

16. Feeding Two Birds with One Hand: Instructional Simultaneity in Early Literacy Education, Nell K. Duke, Julia B. Lindsey, and Crystal N. Wise

17. Comprehension: From Language to Reading, Ellen Orcutt, Victoria Johnson, and Panayiota Kendeou

IV. Using the Science of Early Literacy in Professional Development and Family Engagement

18. Measuring and Improving Teachers’ Knowledge in Early Literacy, Anne E. Cunningham, Allison R. Firestone, and Mónica Zegers

19. Professional Development in Early Language and Literacy: Using Data to Balance Effectiveness and Efficiency, Annemarie H. Hindman and Barbara A. Wasik

20. Using the Science of Early Literacy to Design Professional Development for Writing, Hope K. Gerde and Gary E. Bingham

21. Structuring Adaptations for Scaling Up Evidence-Based Literacy Interventions, James S. Kim and Douglas Mosher

22. Together We Can Do So Much: Aligned School and Home Efforts Using a Multi-Tiered System of Support Framework, Tricia A. Zucker, Gloria Yeomans-Maldonado, Sarah Surrain, and Susan H. Landry

23. Family Engagement for Early Literacy: Interventions That Promote Family-School Partnerships, Karalynn E. Brown and Susan M. Sheridan

V. Using the Science of Early Literacy to Support Equity

24. Literacy Architectures: Making the Case for Systems of Learning and Teaching to Cultivate Readers and Writers in Linguistically Diverse Schools, Emily Phillips Galloway and Nonie K. Lesaux

25. The Development of Early Orthographic Representations in Children: The Lexical Asymmetry Hypothesis and Its Implications for Children with Dyslexia, Donald L. Compton, Laura M. Steacy, Nuria Gutiérrez, Valeria M. Rigobon, Ashley A. Edwards, and Nancy C. Marencin

26. Developmental Language Disorder: What It Is and Why It Matters, Maura Curran and Tiffany Hogan

27. Autism and Early Literacy: The State of the Science, Kelly Whalon and Veronica P. Fleury

28. Multi-Tiered Systems of Support: An Approach for Reducing Disparities in School Readiness and Increasing Equity in Early Literacy and Learning Opportunities for Young Children, Judith J. Carta and Charles R. Greenwood

29. Factors Associated with Black Children’s Early Development and Learning, Iheoma U. Iruka, Amber B. Sansbury, Nicole A. Telfer, Nneka Ibekwe-Okafor, Nicole Gardner-Neblett, and Tonia R. Durden

VI. Using the Science of Early Literacy to Learn Across Boundaries

30. Early Literacy in Everyday Spaces: Creating Opportunities for Learning, Susan B. Neuman

31. Digital Picture Books: Opportunities and Utilities, Adriana G. Bus and Trude Hoel

32. e-Books with a Digital Dictionary as a Support for Word Learning, Ofra Korat and Ora Segal-Drori

33. Leveraging Research-Practice Partnerships to Support Evidence Use in Early Childhood: Lessons Learned from Atlanta 323, Nicole Patton Terry, Gary E. Bingham, Anita Faust Berryman, Janelle Clay, and Kate Caton

Index

"This volume should explode, once and for all, the unhelpful myth that the large body of research known as the science of reading is a narrow, one-size-fits-all enterprise. The editors have wisely updated 'science of reading' to 'science of literacy,' a very welcome course correction. All literacy educators should spend some quality time with this handbook. Their efforts will be repaid, and their students—from preschool to graduate school—will benefit. I expect this handbook to become a standard reference in the field."
- Claude Goldenberg, PhD, Nomellini and Olivier Professor of Education, Emeritus, Stanford University

"With contributions from leading scholars, this handbook provides a comprehensive review of the research base on early literacy development and instruction. The volume captures the breadth and depth of knowledge about how early literacy emerges in children from diverse backgrounds, and how educators can promote it at home or in school. I recommend this handbook as a resource for preservice and inservice teacher preparation, as well as for ongoing professional learning and doctoral-level coursework. Researchers and practitioners will reference this work for years to come as they endeavor to give children the support they need to develop reading and writing proficiency."
- Rebecca D. Silverman, EdD, Stanford Graduate School of Education

"This impressive handbook is layered with multiple scholarly perspectives that are needed to advance the science of reading. The research shared has points of convergence and divergence that remind us our corpus of knowledge about early literacy is still expanding. This gift of a book should be studied and interrogated by those concerned about early literacy the world over."
- Alfred W. Tatum, PhD, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Metropolitan State University of Denver