Author Description

Investigating what 11 eminent literacy scholars with diverse philosophies could agree to regarding contexts and practices for teaching reading, this book presents comprehensive analyses of these findings, dubbed the "Expert Study," and their implications. It includes a reprint of the 1998 article "Points of Agreement: A Display of Professional Unity in Our Field," which provides background on the Expert Study; the voices of experts who took part in the study, along with additional distinguished literacy scholars who have specialized experiences and vantage points from which to view the Expert Study; and recommendations for use of the Expert Study findings. After a foreword, preface, and biographies, chapters in Part 1 (The Study, Findings, and Experts' Points of View) are: (1)"About the Expert Study: Report and Findings" (Rona F. Flippo); (2) "Point of View: Richard C. Anderson" (Linda G. Fielding); (3) "On Being an 'Expert' with a Point of View: Ten Years On" (Brian Cambourne); (4) "My Point of View" (Edward Fry); (5) "Always a Teacher: From Teacher to Teacher Educator to Researcher" (Yetta M. Goodman); (6) "Evaluation, Writing, and Reading" (Jane Hansen); (7) "Point of View: Jerome C. Harste" (Diane DeFord); (8) "Point of View: Wayne R. Otto" (Robert T. Rude); (9) "Developing Readers" (Scott G. Paris); (10) "Life in the Radical Middle: A Personal Apology for a Balanced View of Reading" (P. David Pearson); (11) "Point of View: George Spache" (Richard D. Robinson); and (12) "Principled Pluralism for Adaptive Flexibility in Teaching and Learning To Read" (Rand J. Spiro). Chapters in Part 2 (Making Sense of Literacy) are: (13) "What We Know about Multicultural Education and Students of Diverse Backgrounds" (Kathryn H. Au); (14) "What We Know about Readers Who Struggle" (Victoria Purcell-Gates); and (15) "What We Know about Motivation To Read" (Linda B. Gambrell). Chapters in Part 3 (Toward a Common Ground) are: (16) "A Focus on NAEP Data: What It Means, What It Does.