Below are excerpts from this book. Chapters in the volume were written by faculty in the Maryland Literacy Research Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.

        In the late 1990s, teacher quality has become the centerpiece for discussions of school improvement. Policy leaders, such as Darling-Hammond (1994) and Fuhrman and O'Day (1996), have focused attention on the needs of teachers for several reasons. Foremost among these is the current status of the systemic reform movement. Across many states, schools have embarked on systemic efforts to improve student achievement. Systemic reform has been led by efforts for accountability. As states seek to increase student achievement, they begin by forming learning goals for students. These desirable outcomes are stated in more or less detail, but they are generated with consensus and public involvement as fully as possible (Feuer, Holland, Green, Bertenthal, & Hemphill, 1999). Accountability in the form of student assessment is prominent in the systemic reforms. Testing programs in the form of performance assessments, multiple-choice approaches, and occasionally portfolios are present in nearly every state as a source of leverage for school improvement.

        Although high standards have been developed and accountability has been emphasized, student achievement has not increased markedly. Therefore, policy makers are increasing attention to teacher quality. This recognition of the teacher as a central force in helping students learn is long overdue. At present, national certification bodies, research and development centers, and institutions of higher education are asking, "How can we improve teacher quality to increase student achievement?" Answering this question puts the teacher's knowledge, dispositions, and incentives for good instruction at the center of the table.

Principles on Which Teachers Can Rely

In forming a vision for learning or deciding how to allocate precious time, teachers can use our suggested guidelines. The chapters in this volume focus on different facets of reading and reading instruction that foster the development of reading engagement. Each author explicates a simply stated prescription for what children need to become engaged and achieving readers. We suggest that children need the following supports:

1. A good foundation at the word level.

Focused instruction at the word level is explicit and developmentally appropriate, connected to the extent possible with meaningful reading and writing. Components of instruction include phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, spelling, word analysis, and vocabulary, tailored to the needs of the students. Emphasis is placed on providing students with the strategies and knowledge to identify words and their meanings independently. Contexts of instruction are motivating and socially interactive, supportive of reading engagement.

2. Help if they are in trouble.

Exemplary reading instruction is provided to all children. Reading instruction is tailored to meet the individual needs of children who experience difficulty learning to read. Intervention occurs early, with a coherent and sustained effort to improve the literacy skills of children who experience reading difficulties. Teachers hold the expectation that each child will learn to read. Academic and nonacademic roadblocks to reading and school success are identified and addressed.

3. Opportunity to read for learning.

Children need to have the opportunity to read for learning in order to become engaged readers. Teachers give children exposure to, practice with, and  instruction relevant to reading for acquiring new concepts. Children are immersed in inquiry tasks, and they experience instruction that integrates literacy and content area learning. By balancing learning to read and reading for learning, teachers increase the likelihood of producing readers who can interact capably with all genres of text and who are also motivated to read.

4. Ample materials for reading. 

Each classroom includes a substantial collection of reading materials in a classroom library. Print represents a variety of genres including information books, narratives, poetry, reference books, and multimedia. A variety of cultural backgrounds is represented in the collection. Books encompass a range of difficulty and interests so that they are accessible and appropriate to all students. Children use technology to increase their access to print.

5. Opportunities to share in a community of learners. 

Collaborative literacy experiences promote engaged reading. Literacy development is enhanced when children work together to discuss and reflect on their reading and writing. Teachers create different kinds of social structures to enable peer collaboration. These structures may include small groups, teams, and partnerships. Peer-led discussions help students take responsibility for their own literacy learning. Peers play important roles in promoting one another's competence and motivation for reading.

6. Instructional contexts that are motivating. 

Teachers are concerned with facilitating children's motivation to read along with their cognitive reading skills, in order that children become life-long self-directed readers. Teachers facilitate children's reading motivation when they (1) provide children opportunities to choose books based on their interests and from topics they are learning about in school; (2) use interesting texts and provide challenging tasks and activities; (3) foster children's beliefs that they are competent readers, and teach them the skills to be competent readers; and (4) encourage children to collaborate with others on projects related to their reading.

7. Teachers who are familiar with their strengths and weaknesses. 

Teachers develop and evaluate reading assessments with a clear sense of how they conceptualize reading for the students in their classrooms. Teachers keep in mind five separate but closely intertwined concepts related to assessment: consequences, usefulness, roles of teachers and students, reliability, and validity. Effective reading assessments are engaging to students and teachers, and they reflect the multiple aspects of engaged reading. Assessment in itself is a means to promote student achievement and engagement.

8. Time to read. 

Time to read is an important ingredient in the overall process of reading development. Children who read more frequently have higher reading achievement. Teachers provide children with ample opportunity to read diverse and challenging books of their own choosing. Teachers also provide guidance and support children as they practice their reading skills; they recognize that Sustained Silent Reading is necessary but not sufficient for engagement.

9. Coherent instruction that pulls all of the pieces together. 

Coherence in instruction is extremely valuable for engaged reading. Coherence refers to the connections among the separate parts of teaching, such as reading strategy instruction, knowledge goals, real-world interactions, autonomy support, and rewards for learning. When these eight dimensions are integrated and coherent, students become engaged. Coherent instruction enables students to become independent readers and fosters reading achievement.

10. Classrooms that are coordinated with the school as a whole. 

Teachers plan collaboratively for student learning by discussing goals, curriculum, students' special needs, and literacy successes with colleagues. Communication within and across grade levels and with support staff emphasizes consistency in the program and allows for clear instructional goal setting. Teachers' professional development is aligned with students' literacy development.

11. Continuities between home and school. 

Connections with the home and the community are important in fostering children's engagement and achievement. Effective teachers facilitate the establishment of a partnership between home and school based on mutual respect and understanding. Teachers provide parents with the tools to enable effective involvement once they have learned about the strengths, needs, beliefs, and practices of each student's family. Effective teachers use community resources to augment what is available at home and school.

12. Masterful teaching by teachers knowledgeable about engagement and achievement.

Effective reading instruction depends on the teacher's knowledge, motivation, and strategic processing. Teachers progress through developmental stages as they move toward expertise in teaching reading, each with its own distinct set of challenges. Teachers who are on the road to expertise: engage in self-assessment; establish personal goals and objectives; maintain reasonable self-expectations; seek a mentor; actively pursue new knowledge; establish a professional identity; are self-challenging; serve as a model of literacy; are prepared; and enjoy the journey.

        In this book, we have suggested that students need instruction that is redesigned for a better balance between achievement and engagement. We believe that students need to be taught skills of word recognition and comprehension (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). However, students also need cultivation of motivation, interests, and the ability to share literacy with peers. These aspects of engaged reading have also been discussed in Guthrie and Alvermann (1999). This emphasis on student engagement places a challenge before teachers. To be capable of engaging students in productive reading, teachers must have an array of qualities. We call these qualities "teacher engagement." Engaged teacher teachers are like engaged learners. They are motivated, strategic, knowledgeable, and social in their approach to teaching.

References

        Darling-Hammond, L. (1994). Professional development schools: schools for developing a profession. New York: Teachers College Press. 
        Feuer, M. J., Holland, P. W., Green, B. F., Bertenthal, M. W., & Hemphill, F. C. (1999).Uncommon measures: Equivalence and linkage among educational tests. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
        Fuhrman, S. H., & O'Day, J. A. (1996). Rewards and reform: Creating incentives that work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 
        Guthrie, J. T., & Alvermann, D. E. (Eds.). (1999). Engaged reading: Processes, practices, and policy implications. New York: Teachers College Press.
        Snow, C., Burns, M., & Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.