Catching Schools: An Action Guide to Schoolwide Reading Improvement

Based on her work over the last decade with more than 100 schools and visits to more than 5000 classrooms, Barbara Taylor shares her School Change in Reading (SCR) reform model in Catching Schools. At the heart of the reform model is the belief that student learning improves when teachers are supported with research-based, effective reading instruction and are given a way to work alongside one another to hone their teaching abilities. The end result: a collaborative school community, motivated teachers, and students who are successful, engaged readers.

Taylor’s action points to schoolwide reading improvement include:

• research-proven practices for teaching reading
• a model to put these practices into action for schoolwide reform in reading
• assessment practices to inform teaching
• collaborative meeting strategies and professional learning activities; including 100+ reproducibles for teachers and administrators.

PLUS! Video clips show lessons, coaching techniques, and staff discussions in action.

Catching Schools provides processes around which other reforms can be carved. Improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness as you build a strong school community. With Catching Schools you’ll be sure to catch your school before it falls behind.

P. David Pearson is coauthor of the Heinemann titles Comprehension Going Forward and What Every Teacher Should Need Know About Reading Comprehension Instruction.

He has served President of the National Reading Conference (NRC), Director of the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement, and on the boards of directors for the International Reading Association, NRC, and Association of American Colleges of Teacher Education. He is the author of dozens of influential books and peer-reviewed articles, the founding editor of the Handbook of Reading Research, as well as a former editor of Reading Research Quarterly and the Review of Research in Education.

His many awards include the 1989 Oscar Causey Award (NRC) for contributions to reading research, the 1990 William S. Gray Citation of Merit (IRA) for contributions to reading research and practice, the 2005 Albert J. Harris Award (IRA) for the year’s best reading-disability publication, and the 2003 Alan Purves Award (NCTE) for a publication impacting practice. In 2006 the University of honored him with the Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award, and in 2010 AERA gave him Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award.

Nell K. Duke, Ed.D., is a professor in literacy, language, and culture and also in the combined program in education and psychology at the University of Michigan. Duke received her Bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and her Masters and Doctoral degrees from Harvard University. Duke’s work focuses on early literacy development, particularly among children living in economic poverty. Her specific areas of expertise include the development of informational reading and writing in young children, comprehension development and instruction in early schooling, and issues of equity in literacy education. She has served as Co-Principal Investigator of projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation, among other organizations.

Duke has been named one of the most influential education scholars in the U.S. in EdWeek. In 2014, Duke was awarded the P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award from the Literacy Research Association, and in 2018 she received the International Literacy Association's William S. Gray Citation of Merit for outstanding contributions to research, theory, practice, and policy. She has also received the Michigan Reading Association Advocacy Award, the American Educational Research Association Early Career Award, the Literacy Research Association Early Career Achievement Award, the International Reading Association Dina Feitelson Research Award, the National Council of Teachers of English Promising Researcher Award, and the International Reading Association Outstanding Dissertation Award. 

Duke is author and co-author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. Her most recent book is Inside Information: Developing Powerful Readers and Writers of Informational Text through Project-based Instruction. She is co-author of the books Reading and Writing Informational Text in the Primary Grades: Research-Based Practices; Literacy and the Youngest Learner: Best Practices for Educators of Children from Birth to Five; Beyond Bedtime Stories: A Parent’s Guide to Promoting Reading, Writing, and Other Literacy Skills From Birth to 5, now in its second edition; and Reading and Writing Genre with Purpose in K–8 Classrooms. She is co-editor of the Handbook of Effective Literacy Instruction: Research-based Practice K to 8 and Literacy Research Methodologies. She is also editor of The Research-Informed Classroom book series and co-editor of the Not This, But That book series. 

Duke has taught preservice, inservice and doctoral courses in literacy education, speaks and consults widely on literacy education, and is an active member of several literacy-related organizations. Among other roles, she currently serves as advisor for the Public Broadcasting Service/Corporation for Public Broadcasting Ready to Learn initiative, an expert for NBC News Learn, and advisor to the Council of Chief State School Officers Early Literacy Networked Improvement Community. She has served as author or consultant on several educational programs, including Connect4Learning: The Pre-K Curriculum; Information in Action: Reading, Writing, and Researching with Informational Text; Engaging Families in Children’s Literacy Development: A Complete Workshop Series; Buzz About IT (Informational Text); iOpeners; National Geographic Science K-2; and the DLM Early Childhood Express. Duke also has a strong interest in improving the quality of educational research training in the U.S.

Barbara Taylor has been active in reading research and outreach to schools throughout her career as a professor at the University of Minnesota. In addition to developing the Early Intervention in Reading model, Taylor has published widely on reading comprehension, effective reading instruction, and successful school-wide reading improvement in journals, including Reading Research Quarterly, Elementary School Journal, and The Reading Teacher. In 2010 she was awarded the Oscar Causey Award for Distinguished Contributions to Reading Research from the National Reading Conference, the latest in a long line of awards.