Description

With literacy problems plaguing as many as four in ten American children, this important book draws upon the expertise of psychologists, neurobiologists, and educators to establish clear recommendations on several prominent education controversies. This book explores how to prevent reading difficulties in the context of social, historical, cultural, and biological factors.

Reviews

"A new evaluation by the National Research Council, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, should put an end to this dispute by declaring that both approaches can be used in a complementary fashion. ...could serve as a road map to national standards."
-- The New York Times

"The largest study of its kind ever attempted, which tackles some of the most explosive issues in education."
-- Newsday

"Phonics, the technique of teaching reading by showing students how to decode the sounds of letters, has in recent years become a source of great dispute. Campaigning parents nationwide back it against a rival system known as 'whole language,' which relies more on instilling a free-floating love of reading and writing...a common-sense report that the best method is a combination of both, nor that most good educators say the same."
-- The Washington Post

"The contentious, decades-long debate about how to teach reading is over."
-- The Boston Globe

"A long-awaited report on how to best teach children to read."
-- The Los Angeles Times

"...a watershed in the vitriolic reading debate."
-- Baltimore Sun

"...a committee of nationally recognized professors and educators, seeking to bring some sense to the arguments over the best way of teaching reading, produced a report that said no single reading instruction method, used in isolation, works best for all children. The report by the National Research Council recommended that teachers use a mix of phonics and creative exercises."
-- The Washington Post

"...urges end to reading wars."
-- Education Week

"...a highly readable and reasonably organized text. The editors and authors have done a credible job of putting together state-of-the-art knowledge in a concise volume accessible to most practitioners."
-- Written Language & Literacy, 2000

Authoring Organizations

• Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences (BBCSS)
• Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE)
• More Titles from BBCSS
• More Titles from DBASSE

SIGN UP FOR...

New Title Emails
Read about the newest releases and receive special offers.

NOTES

Also of interest, Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success, http://www.nap.edu/catalog/6014.html and Preparing Our Teachers, http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10130.html.