Reading Instruction That Works: The Case for Balanced Teaching

The first comprehensive study of balanced literacy teaching, this book demonstrates how effective reading instruction combines aspects of both skill and whole language approaches. Noted teacher educator Michael Pressley interjects a voice of reason into current polarizing debates on the "one best way" to teach reading, synthesizing insights and data from a variety of disciplinary perspectives to provide the scientific basis for an eclectic approach. Extensively referenced chapters cover topics including the various components of both whole language and skills instruction; how the balanced approach is applied in real classrooms; the stimulation of literacy from the primary level through the middle and upper elementary grades; motivational issues and strategies; and more.

Michael Pressley, PhD, who passed away in May 2006, was University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, as well as Director of the Doctoral Program in Teacher Education and Director of the Literacy Achievement Research Center, with both roles part of his professorship in the Department of Teacher Education and the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education. He was an expert on effective elementary literacy instruction, with his research appearing in more than 300 journal articles, chapters, and books. Dr. Pressley served a 6-year term as editor of Journal of Educational Psychology. He was honored with awards from the National Reading Conference, the International Reading Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the American Psychological Association, among others. Dr. Pressley received the 2004 E. L. Thorndike Award from Division 15 of the American Psychological Association, the highest award given for career research accomplishment in educational psychology.