Justice, Laura & Vukelich, Carol. (Eds.) (2008). Achieving Excellence in Preschool Literacy Instruction. Reviewed by Deborah A. Ceglowski, Ball State University

Justice, Laura & Vukelich, Carol. (Eds.)(2008). Achieving Excellence in Preschool Literacy Instruction. New York: Guilford Press. Pp. xvii + 344     $ 35     ISBN 978-1-59385-610-6 Reviewed by Deborah A. Ceglowski Ball State University August 14, 2008 As stated by the editors, this book is “about how we must design programs and support teachers in fundamental ways that lead us to excellence in language and literacy instruction within the preschool classroom” (Justice & Vukelich, 2008, p. xix). Edited by Laura Justice and Carol Vukelich the book consists of 17 chapters written by 35 authors with expertise ranging from pediatric medicine, literacy education, speech-language pathology, early intervention, and developmental psychology. The book is divided into four sections: 1) background; 2) professional development and teacher support; 3) optimizing early learning environments; and 4) making data-based decisions. Each section is preceded with a short introduction by the editors which include several questions related to the major themes covered in the chapters. Part I, “Background” includes three chapters: “Evidence For Creating, Expanding, Designing, And Improving High-Quality Preschool Programs” written by Andrew Mashburn; “The Scientifically Based Research Approach To Early Literacy Instruction” by James Christie and “Establishing A Science Of Professional Development For Early Education Programs” by Sharon and Craig Ramey. Chapter 1provides a historical overview of preschool education in the United States focusing primarily on either experimental or federally and state funded preschool (versus full day child care programs). The author notes that while research has influenced the development of Quality programs are those that provide a teacher who responds to the emotional needs of the children and creates a positive environment, a wide range of instructional materials and methods, and language modeling that expands children’s linguistic development. Chapter 2 focuses on scientifically based research reading approach [SBRR] and how this is applied to early childhood settings including the need for some direct instruction of four core skills that young children must acquire to become successful readers: oral language, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and print awareness. Chapter 3 presents a model of professional development− knowledge application, information, and formal systems theory. Knowledge application (specifying what teachers will learn and relating that to daily job performance; information (collecting and analyzing information about teacher practice and student performance); systems (problem solving strategies and techniques related to teachers’ specific and unique educational contexts). The chapter concludes is a SPRR study of how this model was implemented in one school district. Part II, “Professional Development And Teacher Support” includes 5 chapters: “Models For Coaching: Making Them Work For Preschools” by Sharon Walpole and Carla Meyer; “Mentoring Preschool Teachers” by Shelley Gray; “Formative Assessment Of Classrooms: Using Classroom Observations To Improve Implementation Of Quality” by Bridget Hamre, Jennifer LoCasale-Crouch, and Robert Pianta; “Are Early Childhood Classrooms Preparing Children To Be Ready For School? The CIRCLE Teacher Behavior Rating Scale” by Mike Assel, Susan Landry, and Paul Swank; and “It’s In The Details: Approaches To Describing And Improving Preschool Classrooms” by David Dickinson, Betsy Watson, and Dale Farran. Chapter 4 presents research-based practices to develop effective coaching programs and then provides an overview of several models used in elementary school literacy programs including Reading Recovery and Success for All and concludes with an overview of process and hybrid models of literacy coaching. Chapter 5 begins with a review of the research on the relationship between mentoring and teacher retention and then provides a step by step approach to develop an effective literacy mentoring program including five observation/evaluation forms that mentors can use with preschool teachers. Chapter 6 describes two approaches to professional development: 1) the Classroom Assessment Scoring System- a validated assessment system for preschool classrooms and 2) My/Teacher Partner – a model of individualized mentoring and support for early childhood teachers that focuses on the relationship between the teacher and mentor. The Center for Improving the Readiness of Children for Learning and Education Teacher Rating Scale is the focus of Chapter 7. This is a 63 item assessment covering 13 different content areas that is administered by trained observers during the portion of the preschool day focused on literacy instruction and activities. Two scales from the assessment are found at the end of the chapter. Chapter 8 describes the process of developing the Narrative Record and Instructional Content Observation Form for use with the Opening the World to Learning preschool literacy curriculum. Three preschool teachers using this curriculum were assessed using these tools and the results of the research indicate that teachers vary in the intensity and amount of time designated for various preschool literacy activities. Part III, “Optimizing Early Learning Environments”, is comprised of 5 chapters: “Characteristics Of Classroom Environments Associated With Accelerated Literacy Development” by Renée Casbergue, Lea McGee, and April Bedford; “Increasing Children’s Learning By Getting To The Bottom Of Their Confusion” by Judith Schickedanz; “Strategic And Intentional Shared Storybook Reading” by Sonia Cabell, Laura Justice, Carol Vukelich, Martha Buell, and Myae Han; “Differentiating Instruction In The Preschool Classroom: Bridging Emergent Literacy Instruction And Developmentally Appropriate Practice” by Terri Purcell and Catherine Rosemary; and “Language And Literacy Practices For English Language Learners In The Preschool Setting” by M. Adelaida Restrepo and Virginia Dubasik. Chapter 9 presents data from an Early Reading First grant that compares the results of the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit with a list of 50 research based practices related to early literacy acquisition and instruction that resulted in the identification of three key components of preschool classrooms that promote early literacy. Although Chapter 10 mentions the Adult Involvement Scale, the chapter focuses on children’s cognitive and literacy misunderstandings and how teachers can provide adequate and full explanations to help children decrease their confusion. Like Chapter 9, Chapter 11 is based on an Early Reading First grant and explores two domains of storybook reading: “inside out skills” (children’s knowledge of print) and “outside in skills” (comprehension understanding and strategies) and how interactive storybook reading at both the group and individual levels assists children in developing skills in these two domains. The chapter includes a description of the various techniques related interactive storybook learning that includes examples from a preschool classroom and template for organizing and implementing the two tiered approach. Differentiated instruction is the focus of Chapter 12 and how teachers can implement this approach so that it is both developmentally appropriate and maintains a focus on early literacy learning. Best practices for teaching and supporting English Language Learners is discussed in Chapter 13. Discussion of current research based practices, models of preschool programs for ELLs and working with families are the main categories addressed. Part IV, “Making Data Based Decisions” includes four chapters: “Quality Counts: Design And Use Of An Early Literacy Program Review Tool” by Kathleen Roskos and Carol Vukelich; “Indicators And Goals Of High-Quality Program Evaluation For The Preschool Classroom” by Khara Pence; “How To Evaluate A Screening Process: The Vocabulary Of Screening And What Educators Need To Know” by Christopher Schatschneider, Yaacov Petscher, and Kellee Williams; and “Curriculum-Based Measurement Of Preschoolers’ Early Literacy Skills” by Tanis Bryan, Cevriye Ergul, and Karen Burstein. Chapter 14 describes the Early Literacy Program Review Tool [ELPRT], designed to focus on the three essential elements of preschool programs: structure (conceptual framework, curriculum elements, lesson plans, integrating literacy into the curriculum), content (phonological awareness, alphabet letter knowledge, print knowledge, vocabulary, and language comprehension), and setting (whole group, small group, individual, play). The development, implementation, and research on the ELPRT are presented. Chapter 15 provides three types of questions that programs evaluators should ask: 1) impact (outcomes, fidelity of implementation, instruction, and family outcomes; 2) normative (comparison of outcomes for children in the experimental group to those in the control group); and 3) descriptive (information about the particular sites studied). The authors present a case study of a particular center to demonstrate how this evaluation approach is used. Chapter 16 focuses on screening children who may be at risk for school failure. Definitions of key terms are provided along with a guide to develop a screening program. The last chapter introduces curriculum based measurement, a technique incorporating teacher observation of children’s performance on specific tasks- the test takes two minutes to administer and each child is tested weekly. The authors describe the results of a SBRR study that included 23 classrooms (most of which included ELL children) participating in an Early Reading First project. Many, but not all chapters in this book focus on SBRR approaches, Early Reading First grants, and measurement tools. For readers interested in these topics, this book provides useful information. Eleven of the 16 chapters present a measurement tool or system related to early literacy instruction or professional development written by either the instrument developers or members of the research team. This provides the authors’ perspective on the tool or measure but does not provide a review or critique by another reviewer. Although several of the chapters mention and one chapter focuses on Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for young children A joint position statement of the International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (National Association for the Education of Young Children,1998), there is dissonance between the joint statement and the practices suggested in the book. For instance, several chapters advocate a combination of direct instruction and child selected activity in the area of phonemic awareness. Yet the joint statement argues: Training studies have demonstrated that phonemic awareness can be taught to children as young as age five (Bradley & Bryant 1983; Lundberg, Frost, & Petersen 1988; Cunningham 1990; Bryne & Fielding-Barnsley 1991). In the preschool years sensitizing children to sound similarities does not seem to be strongly dependent on formal training but rather from listening to patterned, predictable texts while enjoying the feel of reading and language (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998, p. 4). Likewise, many of the chapters focus on SBRR conducted in Early Reading First sites but neither the authors or editors mention the findings from the first evaluation study of Early Reading First [ERF] that found a Positive impact on children’s print and letter knowledge but not on phonological awareness or oral language.ERF neither enhanced nor diminished children’s social-emotional development during the preschool year. Patterns of results that were observed for the overall sample were also observed for most subgroups examined (Jackson et al., 2007, p. xii). Two final comments: with the exception of two chapters, the book does not focus on young ELL’s- the fastest growing population of preschoolers in the country. Chapter 13 by M. Adelaida and Virginia Dubasik provides an outstanding review of the literature and research based practices for working with ELL’s and their families. However, Chapter 17 focuses on an English only approach to working with ELL’s− one that is not supported by current research. The most engaging chapter for me was Chapter 10− “Increasing Children’s Learning By Getting To The Bottom Of Their Confusion” by Judith Schickedanz. This practical guide to answering young children’s intriguing and often difficult questions is a true contribution to the field. References Justice, L., & Vukelich, C. (Eds.). Achieving excellence in preschool literacy instruction. (2008). New York: Guilford Press. National Association for the Education of Young Children. (1998). Learning to read and write: Developmentally appropriate practices for young children A joint position statement of the International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Washington, D.C.: author. Russell, J., McCoy, A, Pistorino, C., Wilkinson, A., Burghardt, J., Clark, M., Ross C., Schochet, P., & Swank, P. (2007). National Evaluation of Early Reading First: Final Report, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Government Printing Office. About the Reviewer Deborah A. Ceglowski is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She has developed a graduate course in emergent literacy and regularly reviews emergent literacy book manuscripts for book publishers.