ABSTRACT
Until fairly recently, most volumes on literacy development focused primarily on techniques and strategies aimed at fostering students’ skills in academic contexts, and although this focus remains an extremely important one, more current work has evidenced a broadening in what is seen as central to literacy development (Kamil, Mosenthal, Pearson, & Barr, 2000). The range of questions now being addressed includes the following: What literacy instruction practices have strong research evidence to support them (Slavin, 2002)? What role do teacher knowledge and beliefs play in the type of literacy instruction offered (Olson, 2002; Olson & Torrance, 2001), and how can teacher development best be supported (DuFour & Eaker, 1998)? What is the role of culture in literacy development (Bruner, 1990)? How do families interface with schools’ efforts to develop early literacy (Dunst, 2002), and how might elements of popular culture influence literacy development (Storey, 1996)? What do we know about the nature of language processes, in particular, about written languages across cultures that might inform teachers of literacy (Ingram Willis, Garcia, Barrera, & Harris, (2003)? Finally, what are the particular challenges faced by diverse groups of learners and their teachers (Allington, 2002; Kamil, Manning, & Walberg, 2002; Taylor & Pearson, 2002)?
