Know Better, Do Better: Comprehension; Fueling the Reading Brain With Knowledge, Vocabulary, and Rich Language

In this companion to their bestselling first book, David and Meredith Liben move beyond foundational skills to explore how the mind comprehends texts. They translate research in clear terms to help teachers understand what students truly need to read deeply for pleasure and with purpose.  Focusing on vocabulary, knowledge building, and language structures, they provide cutting-edge instructional ideas and ready-to-use tools to help teachers put their understanding into action immediately.

David has 50 years’ of experience in education. He’s taught grades 5 to 9, been founding principal of the public school in NYC started with Meredith, and taught graduate education classes and undergraduates at Community College of Vermont. David synthesized the research behind the Common Core Standards and has been working with states, districts and publishers around the country and the world on improving reading practices since.

Meredith taught for over 25 years and has been collaborating with David on reading reform for the past 35. She led literacy work for Student Achievement Partners for a decade after coordinating the text complexity research for the Common Core State Standards. She and David wrote Know Better Do Better: Teaching the Foundations so Every Child Can Read, a bestseller in professional books on foundational reading, in 2019.