This special issue presents six research efforts to examine professional development models for improving early literacy instruction and documents student results associated with each model. In all cases the models take a preventive approach focused on improving the knowledge and practices of general and special education teachers in order to support documented effective instruction in phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, word analysis, and oral reading fluency. These efforts are consistent with recent calls by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services to focus research on school-based models of literacy improvement, to provide all children with access to the general education curriculum.