The Learning Communities Guide to Improving Reading Instruction

This book, with its rich collection of tools to assess and improve practice, identify and apply new approaches, improve and add to the instructional repertoire, will measurably help both teachers and instructional leaders and ultimately benefit students.

The authors bring deep background in reading instruction, professional development and school leadership. They give teachers a framework for understanding the strategies to promote all aspects of reading instruction in support of the ultimate goal of student comprehension.

They give teachers and instructional leaders a set of "look-fors" to identify strengths and weaknesses and target areas for support.

They provide models for developing self-assessments, goals and action steps and benchmarks for improvement. A professional development model for reading helps insure that this support will be effective and lasting.

The themes of attending to individual needs, providing assessment-driven instruction, and creating long-term, focused professional development plans are solid and consistent throughout.