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Center for Inquiry on Literacy > Literacy Website Links

Literacy Website Links

  

Literacy Related Organizations and Centers

  

American Federation of Teachers

The American Federation of Teachers website includes policy briefs, publications, journals, and related links.

http://www.aft.org/

American Library Association

Professional organization for librarians.

www.ALA.org

CBC Books

Children’s Book Council Book Company

www.cbcbooks.org

Center for Adult Learning & Literacy

Housed at the University of Maine, CALL provides literacy related services through adult education programs in Maine.

http://www.umaine.edu/call

Center for Adult Learning and Literacy

Maine State Literacy Resource Center for adult education, provides information on Family Literacy

www.ume.maine.edu

Center for English Learning and Achievement (CELA)

CELA is one of the National Research Centers funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI).

http://cela.albany.edu

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA)

CIERA is one of the National Research Centers funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI).

http://www.ciera.org/

International Reading Association

Association home page with resources on improving the quality of reading instruction.

http://www.reading.org/

Jump Start

Organization that engages young people in community service related to literacy.

www.jstart.org

Learning First Alliance

Twelve organizations advocating for education have formed this alliance to improve student learning.

http://www.learningfirst.org/

Maine Reading Association

Maine affiliate of the International Reading Association

www.mainereading.org

Maine Public Broadcasting

Maine affiliate of Public Broadcasting System

www.mpbc.org

Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance

Enriching lives through literature throughout Maine

http://www.mainewriters.org

Mid-Continental Regional Educational Laboratory (MCREL)

MCREL is one of the 12 regional educational laboratories funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI).

http://www.mcrel.org/

National Association for the Education of Young Children

Professional organization for early childhood educators.

www.naeyc.org

Professional organization for English language arts teachers K-12.

www.ncte.org

National Education Association

NEA devotes a section of their web site to providing tips for raising successful readers.

www.nea.org/readingmatters/home/index.html

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL)

NCREL is one of the 12 Regional Educational Laboratories funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI).

http://www.ncrel.org/

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL)

NWREL is one of the 12 regional educational laboratories funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI)

http://www.nwrel.org/ 

Parents as Teachers Network

Organization devoted to providing educational support to parents of young children.

www.patnc.org

Public Broadcasting Service

A children’s home page with PBS children’s shows characters.

http://www.mpbc.org with links to www.pbs.org

Public Broadcasting System

Provide a variety of resources related to educational programming.

www.pbs.org/kids/rtl

Reading is Fundamental

Organization devoted to providing reading materials to disadvantaged children.

www.rif.org

Rigby

Rigby Book Company

www.Rigby.com

SEDL Follow Through Program

A comprehensive program for language-minority children in kindergarten through grade three.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/triedandtrue/sedl.html

Scholastic

Scholastic Book Company

www.scholastic.com

Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL)

SEDL is one of the 12 regional educational laboratories funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI).

http://www.sedl.org/

Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts

The Texas Education Network at the University of Texas, Austin links to the Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts for information on language arts standards and effective practices.

http://www.tenet.edu/

U.S. Department of Education

Access to the presidential priorities, federal initiatives in support of the priorities including America Reads and the Reading Excellence Act, legislation, education publications, and links to the federal offices responsible for education policy.

http://www.ed.gov/ 

Verizon Communications, Inc.

An international leader in telecommunications with Read With Me. Resources

http://www.verizon.com

Walden University

Walden offers an MSEd program for classroom teachers who intend to remain in the classroom but want to improve their knowledge and skills for teaching reading.This program is available as a distance learning program. 

www.degrees4teachers.net

 

Literacy Reports, Articles and Position Statements

The 1998 Reading Report Card for the Nation and States

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as “the Nation’s Report Card.” has assessed the academic performance of fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders in a range of subjects.

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/

Balanced Reading Instruction:Review of Literature

Discusses skills-based and meaning-based approaches for early reading instruction.

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/timely/briiss.htm

Beginning Reading

This Digest, also published in LD Online, discusses phonological awareness and word recognition as essential to the early reading development of children who are at risk for reading difficulties.

http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed418515

Booklet published in 1999 that describes high quality interventions for children at risk of reading difficulties

Booklet published in 1999 that describes high quality interventions for children at risk of reading difficulties.

http://www.aft.org/edissues/whatworks/wwreading.htm

Checkpoints for Progress in Reading and Writing (for teachers)

Booklets on developmental milestones in reading and writing (for teachers).

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CheckTeachers/

CIERA – Position Statement on Early Literacy

Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement presents its position statement, “Improving the reading Achievement of America’s Children:10 Research-Based Principles.”

http://www.ciera.org/ciera/information/principles/principles.html

CIERA #1-001:Text Matters in Learning to Read

Argues that children need exposure to a wide variety of text that includes phonemically regular and language patterns, high frequency words, and high quality fiction and informational texts.

http://www.ciera.org/ciera/publications/report-series/inquiry-1/report11.html

CIERA #1-002:Orchestrating the Thought and Learning of Struggling Writers

Argues that the quality of the teacher’s questions and comments during a cooperative writing activity helps the students engage in higher-level thinking that, in turn, results in compositions that reveal substantive content and technical expertise.Note:Other reports are available in pdf format.

http://www.ciera.org/ciera/publications/report-series/inquiry-1/report12.html

Continuum of Children’s Development in Early Reading and Writing

Continuum of Children’s Development in Early Reading and Writing from ‘Learning to Read and Write:Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children, part 4’ publication by NAEYC.

http://www.naeyc.org/about/position/psread4.htm

Early learning, later success:The Abecedarian Study

Recent report of a longitudinal study of the long-lasting benefits of early education.Researchers followed 57 children who had been enrolled in a high-quality early childhood program from infancy through age 5 until they were 21 years old and compared their abilities and achievements with a control group.

http://www.naeyc.org/public_affairs/champions/abecedarian.htm

Educating Language-Minority Children

Documents research on teaching English language learners to read English and includes studies of school and classroom effectiveness.The book is available in “open book” format only.

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/6025.html

Effective Schools/Accomplished Teachers

Reports a national study of effective schools and accomplished teachers from a sample of 14 schools.Findings indicate that the amount of time allotted to small group instruction in which teachers directed instruction in phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension distinguished the most effective schools from others.

http://www.ciera.org/ciera/publications/online-at-ciera/inquiry-2/online-taylor.html

ERIC Digests

Recent ERIC Digests address early literacy topics.

http://www.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/

Every Child Reading:An Action Plan

An action paper from the Learning First Alliance.

http://www.learningfirst.org/readingaction.html

Help Your Child Learn

A report of the U.S. Department of Education

www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/hyc.html

International Reading Association – Position Statements on Early Literacy Practices

http://www.reading.org/advocacy/press_00327.html

 

* Excellent Reading Teachers http://www.reading.org/advocacy/press_00327.html

*Teaching All Children to Read:The Roles of the Reading Specialisthttp://www.reading.org/advocacy/press2_00327.html

*Mandated Instruction Practices http://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/mandated_practices.html

*Providing Books and Other Print Materials for Classroom and School Librarieshttp://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/media_center.html

*Phonics http://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/phonics.html

*High-Stakes Testinghttp://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/high_stakes.html

*Class Size Reduction http://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/class_size.html

*Phonemic Awareness http://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/phonemic.html

*First Language Literacy Instruction http://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/first_language.html

*Beginning Readinghttp://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/begin_reading.html

IRA-NAEYC Positions Statement on Early Literacy

The International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children present a joint position statement on helping young children learn to read and write.

http://www.naeyc.org

Language and Literacy Environments in Preschools

This Digest, written by the authors of Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, discusses the research on preschool literacy environments and their contributions to early reading development.

http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed426818.html

Learning to Read and Write

An article published by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) that summarizes research on learning to speak, read, and write; offers activities to support the development of these competencies during preschool and the early grades; and profiles five Northwest schools.

http://www.nwrel.org/cfc/publications/LearningReadWrite.html

Learning to Read and Write:Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children

An Overview of the ‘Learning to Read and Write’ recommendations from NAEYC.

http://www.naeyc.org/about/position/psread0.htm

Literacy Best Practice in a Kindergarten Classroom

An illustration of best practices in the teaching of literacy skills including video clips of exemplary literacy practice at Centralized Kindergarten North Schools, Indianapolis, IN.

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading.li1lk68.htm

Making a Difference Means Making It Different:Honoring Children’s Rights to Excellent Reading Instruction

An advocacy statement on the need to focus educational reform on the rights of the child to have the best possible literacy instruction including 10 rights.

http://www.reading.org/advocacy/policies/MADMMID.html

Making Standards Matter 1999:An update on state activity

A recent policy brief on state efforts to implement standards-based reforms including English language arts standards and assessments.

http://aft.org/edissues/policybriefs/index.htm

NAEYC Guidelines for Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs

Guidelines designed to help institutions develop programs and provide guidance to states in setting standards for licensing early childhood teachers.

http://www.naeyc.org/about/position/psprep98.htm

National Academies of Arts and Science

Literacy research sponsored by the National Academies

www.nas.edu

National Reading Panel Final Report

Teaching Children to Read:An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature—Under the auspice of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, the National Reading Panel was charged by Congress with assessing the status of research-based knowledge in reading.Its report is available in PDF and HTML formats.

http://www.nationalreadingpanel.org/Documents/default.htm

The Nature of Effective First-Grade Literacy Instruction

Case studies of literacy instruction in 30 first-grade classrooms in diverse settings across five states; discusses instructional practices of the most effective teachers and the academic performance of low achieving students in these classrooms in contrast with their peers in more typical classrooms.

http://cela.albany.edu/1stgradelit/main.html

One Down and 80,000 to Go:Word Recognition Instruction in the Primary Grades

Examined the word recognition instructional approaches in four classrooms and found that an early emphasis on phonics followed by application of word reading skills to reading whole texts, vocabulary development, and discussion of text meaning results in the greatest gains in student achievement.

http://www.ciera.org/ciera/publications/online-at-ciera/inquiry-1/online-inquiry1.html

Preventing Reading Difficulties

Recommendations for Practice and Research from the Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children.

http://stills.nap.edu/html/prdyc/ch10.html

Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children

Synthesis of 20 years of reading research on effective prevention and intervention strategies for pre-kindergarten to grade 3 children.

http://www.stills.nap.edu/html/prdyc/

Putting Reading Front and Center:A Resource Guide for Union Advocacy

Recently published resource guide on improving beginning reading instruction.Copies may be ordered.

http://www.aft.org/edissues/readingflyer.htm

READ*WRITE*NOW!Partners Tutoring Program

Training guide that includes guidelines for effective tutoring strategies.

http://www.ed.gov/americareads/Pubs/Tutorman.html

Recommendations for Practice PreK-Grade3 from NAEYC

Recommendations for Practice PreK-Grade 3 from the ‘Learning to Read and Write:Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children’ publication by NAEYC.

http://www.naeyc.org/about/position/psread2.htm

References for Improving the Reading Achievement of America’s Children:10 Research-Based Principles

Cites references in support of the 10 research-based principles.

http://www.ciera.org/ciera/information/principles/references/html

Seeking Common Ground

NWREL publishes the Northwest Education online.In this article the nature of balanced early literacy instruction is discussed.

http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/fall_98/article2.html

Seven promising programs for reading and language arts

Booklet published in 1999 that describes high quality instructional programs for reading and language arts.

http://www.aft.org/edissues/whatworks/wwenglish.htm

Start Early, Finish Strong

Summarizes children’s language and literacy development milestones prekindergarten-grade 3 and offers research-based practices that help children acquire language and literacy skills at home, in the community, and at school.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/startearly/

Starting Out Right

Summarizes key findings about language and literacy experiences in preschools and childcare settings, initial reading instruction K-3, and interventions that help prevent reading difficulties in pre-kindergarten to grade 3 children.

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/sor/

Successful Early Childhood Education in an Imperfect World

Case reports of exemplary early literacy teaching in four Northwest schools.

http://www.nwrel.org/cfc/publications/imperfect.html

Tools for Schools

A report that describes school reform models supported by the National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students.Comprehensive School Reform Models that focus on early literacy such as Success For ALL and teaching English language learners to read English such as the Three-Year Transition Program for Native Spanish-Speaking Elementary Students are included.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ToolsforSchools/

Topics in Early Reading Coherence

Short papers on reading topics are available at this site; e.g. “Understanding the brain and teaching,” “Phonics rules,” and “Reading by site.”

http://www.sedl.org/pitl/rci/topics.html

 

Transitioning Second Language Learners to English reading:What research tells us

Strategies for transitioning students from reading Spanish to reading English.

http://www.tenet.edu/teks/language_arts/professional/trans_second/main.htm

 

What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able To Do

A report that describes the knowledge base which teachers of reading must have if they are to be successful in teaching children to read well.

http://www.aft.org/edissues/rocketscience.htm

 

What Your Grandmother’s Teacher Didn’t Know that Your Granddaughter’s Teacher Should

Argues that the research community must become actively engaged in change if it is to have an impact on reading policy and practice.

http://www.ciera.org/ciera/publications/online-at-ciera/inquiry-3/online-hoffman.html

 

Literacy Initiatives

America Reads Challenge

Supports the goal that every American child can read well and independently by the end of 3rd grade.

http://www.ed.gov/inits/americareads/

Class Size Reduction and Teacher Quality Initiative

Professional Development initiative of the U.S. Department of Education to support Early Literacy.

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/ClassSize/

Family Involvement

The Partnership for Family Involvement in Education is committed to increasing family participation in children’s learning through a variety of activities and efforts, such as before—and after—school programs, tutoring and mentoring initiatives, and donations of facilities and technologies.

http://www.pfie.ed.gov/

Partnership for Family Involvement

Promoting children’s learning through the development of family-school-community partnership.

http://www.ed.gov/PFIE

Reading Coherence Initiative

The Reading Coherence Initiative provides site-based professional development in reading in five sites in Arkansas, Louisiana. New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.Researchers at these sites are collaborating with teachers to develop products that support coherent reading instruction including a conceptual framework, a reading assessment database, resources for supporting early literacy, and a literacy profile.These products can be downloaded from the site.

http://www.sedl.org/pitl/rci/

Reading Excellence Act

An Early Literacy initiative of the U.S. Department of Education.

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/REA/

 

Legislation is available at:http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/REA/reading_act.pdf

Reading is Fundamental

Provides tips for parents and volunteers.

http://www.si.edu/rif

Reading Success Network

A network of educators invested in improving reading achievement through the use of peer coaching.

http://sccac.lacoe.edu/priorities/reading.html

Literacy Resources (Instruction & Assessment)

America Reads Resource Kit

Resources for starting a community-based tutoring program and training tutors to teach young children to read.

http://www.ed.gov/americareads/resourcekit/

The Early Literacy Advisor:An assessment system that shapes instruction

This tool includes background information on early literacy development, standards and benchmarks in early literacy, developmentally appropriate practices, developmentally appropriate assessments, professional development opportunities for teachers, and suggestions for using computers in the early literacy classroom.

http://www.mcrel.org/resources/literacy/ela/index.asp

Edpro

Literacy related video training programs

www.Edpro.com

Electronic Marketplace

An interactive web-site created by the Southern Maine Partnership to showcase learning projects.

www.elm.maine.edu

First Steps

A research based early literacy program originating in New Zealand.

www.studentnet.edu.au/firststeps

Ideas at Work

A best practices site developed by the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) in which practitioners can share research-based lessons.

http://www.ciera.org/ciera/ideas-at-work/

Ideas at Work:How to Help Every Child Become a Reader

Directory of 100 ideas, projects, and programs at the federal, state, and local levels that help K-3 children learn to read.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ideasatwork/

The Knowledge Loom

Sponsored by the Northeast Education LAB at Brown, this is a source for best practices, research, theory, and case studies.

http://knowledgeloom.org

Literacy Plus

A language arts framework for kindergarten through eighth grade integrating reading, writing, vocabulary, and reasoning developed by MCREL.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/triedandtrue.litpl.html

National Academy Press

The National Academy Press publishes research conducted by the National Research Council, a division of the National Academy of Sciences.

http://www.nap.edu/

Read With Me

Guide for student volunteers starting Early Literacy Programs

www.ed.gov/pubs/ReadWithMe

Seven Promising Programs for Reading and English Language Arts

Booklet published in 1999 that describes high quality instructional programs for reading and language arts.

http://www.aft.org/edissues/whatworks/seven/index.htm

Tips for Schools

Tips for schools from the Learning First Alliance.

http://www.learningfirst.org/reading_tips_schools.html

Tips for Teachers

Tips for Teachers from the Learning First Alliance.

http://www.learningfirst.org/reading_tips_teachers.html

Voices from the Field

An online periodical sponsored by the Northeast Regional LAB at Brown.

www.lab.brown.edu/voices

Literacy Resources (Families & Home/School Connections)

 

America Goes Back to School

“America Goes Back to School” encourages families and communities to make the most of the back-to-school time by launching or expanding family-school-community partnerships.

http://www.ed.gov/Family/agbts/

Checkpoints for Progress in Reading and Writing (for families)

Booklets on developmental milestones in reading and writing (for families).

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CheckFamilies/

Compact for Reading

Includes information on creating compacts among families and educators to help K-3 children improve their reading skills; includes a guide for creating community and family-school partnerships.The site also includes a link to School-Home Links Readings Kits – research-based activities for families to do with K-3 children to help them improve their reading abilities.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/CompactforReading/

Connect for Kids

Parent and child related learning resources.

www.connectforkids.org

Parent Soup

Web site with many resources on parenting.

http://www.parentsoup.com/

READ*WRITE*NOW!

Activities that parents can do with their children from birth to grade 6 to help them learn to read and write.

http://www.ed.gov/Family/RWN/Activ97/

The Parent’s Place

Web site with many resources on parenting.

http://www.parentsplace.com/

Top Ten Tips for Parents

Top Ten Tips for Parents from the Learning First Alliance.

http://www.learningfirst.org/reading_tips.html