Review
"Neuman and Dickinson have created nothing short of a tour de force. This new Handbook will be essential reading for anyone interested in the topic--and, these days, who is not? Early literacy development is among the most complex current issues facing children, families, early care and education providers, school personnel, researchers, and policy makers. Containing chapters by the leading developmentalists and literacy experts in the nation, the Handbook provides the reader with diverse perspectives, salient analyses, intellectual energy, and simply outstanding scholarship. It is a joy to read and will well earn its place in the annals of scholarship." --Sharon L. Kagan, EdD, Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy, Teachers College, Columbia University; Immediate Past President, National Association for the Education of Young Children
"This volume both celebrates and reports on the vast amount of knowledge gained in emerging and early literacy over the last two to three decades. It encompasses the wide array of perspectives that characterize the current information explosion. Importantly, it also offers guidance for continuing to develop a more sophisticated understanding of such issues as the culturally situated, multiple literacies that are both local and global realities. All of us--educators, researchers, and other students of literacy--need this book." --Anne van Kleeck, PhD, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Georgia
"With the recent federal focus on early prevention of reading impairments, this handbook provides practitioners and educators with the information needed to provide scientifically based, theory-guided assessment and instructional services to children who are typically developing or at risk for literacy difficulties. Neuman and Dickinson have gathered together an impressive cadre of scientists and educators who inform readers about early literacy research and its application for the home and the classroom. All professionals who work with young children, including general and special educators and speech-language pathologists, should consider this volume a ‘must-have' for their professional library."--Kenn Apel, PhD, CCC-SLP, Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, Wichita State University
About the Author
Susan B. Neuman, EdD, a professor in educational studies specializing in early literacy development, returned to the University of Michigan in 2004 after a 2-year hiatus, during which she served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. Her research and teaching interests include early childhood policy, curriculum, and early reading instruction. In her role as Assistant Secretary, she established the Reading First program and the Early Reading First program, and was responsible for all activities in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Dr. Neuman recently received an honorary doctorate from the California State University/n-/Hayward, where she also conducted her master's work in reading and curriculum. Widely published, she received her doctorate from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
David K. Dickinson, EdD, is a professor at the Peabody School of Education, Vanderbilt University. He received his doctoral training at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education after teaching elementary school in the Philadelphia area for 5 years. Since the early 1980s he has studied language and early literacy development among low-income populations, with a focus on the role of oral language in literacy development. Dr. Dickinson has examined the interrelationships among language, print skills, and phonemic awareness and has conducted detailed studies of language use patterns in early childhood classrooms. He helped create tools for describing literacy support in preschool classrooms, and developed and studied approaches to providing professional development for preschool teachers. Widely published, Dr. Dickinson has served on numerous advisory boards and recently was on a commission assisting the National Association for the Education of Young Children with revising its accreditation standards.