Reading Instruction That Works: The Case for Balanced Teaching(Solving Problems in the Teaching of Literacy)

This text profiles some of America's reading instructors, documenting how they combine aspects of both skill and whole language approaches.

About the Author :
Michael Pressley, PhD, who passed away in May 2006, was University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, as well as Director of the Doctoral Program in Teacher Education and Director of the Literacy Achievement Research Center, with both roles part of his professorship in the Department of Teacher Education and the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education. He was an expert on effective elementary literacy instruction, with his research appearing in more than 300 journal articles, chapters, and books. Dr. Pressley served a 6-year term as editor of Journal of Educational Psychology. He was honored with awards from the National Reading Conference, the International Reading Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the American Psychological Association, among others. Dr. Pressley received the 2004 E. L. Thorndike Award from Division 15 of the American Psychological Association, the highest award given for career research accomplishment in educational psychology.

Review :
"This book is well-written, informative, and comprehensible to a nontechnical audience. The content is timely, given the heatedness of debates over whole language versus phonics instruction that are currently receiving widespread political and media attention. I was particularly impressed by how up to date the references are." --Linda Baker, PhD, University of Maryland, Baltimore County "Integrating a review of the literature with hundreds of hours of classroom observation, interviews with expert teachers, and his own findings into how children learn to read, Michael Pressley provides an exemplary model for literacy instruction. The book demonstrates the benefits of a balanced approach in an interesting and unbiased manner, covering applications both with emerging readers and more sophisticated upper-grade children. Throughout, Pressley offers straight talk about important topics." --Lesley Mandel Morrow, PhD, Rutgers University "The most complete and compelling presentation of balanced reading instruction that is available to date. Synthesizing extensive research, illuminating trends, and building bridges between different fields of knowledge, Pressley demonstrates that balanced reading instruction involves much more than simply selecting from a list of curricular choices. The book helps teachers understand the conditions in which certain approaches are more effective, why they are effective, and how we know that they will improve students' literacy. Lifting us up on the shoulders of past research, and proposing promising new directions for teacher education and reading instruction, this book will help maximize the literacy successes of future generations." --Cathy Collins Block, PhD, Texas Christian University "For school psychologists seeking to improve their understanding of literacy and the reading process and to gain a comprehensible overview of the most updated research, Pressley provides an excellent starting palce for developing a sound understanding of some of the more salient features involved in the overall process." --John M. Hintze and Judy E. Loughin in School Psychology Quarterly "Instead of relying solely on published papers, Pressley spent hours in classrooms watching the best of the best....a large part of his work is based upon observing teachers. His surveys of these teachers as well as his observations enabled him to present commonalities of good reading instruction and to show what a balanced elementary language arts classroom looks like....It was refreshing to read a critique by someone who is not pushing his own program for sale commercially." --"Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy" .,."through much research, many references, and the comprehensiveness of this text, the author quite ably makes his case....this book will aid individuals in understanding that reading instruction can work if there is a balance between whole language and skills components. Recommended for undergraduate and graduate students; faculty; researchers; and professionals." --"Choice" "This book profiles some of the country's most effective reading instructors, documenting how they combine aspects of both skill and whole language approaches." --"NEA Today"