Timothy+Shanahan+2

National Literacy Panel Member Profile Timothy Shanahan

by Maricela Nilo Dr. Shanahan is Director of the UIC (University of Illinois in Chicago) Center for Literacy. He is past president of the International Reading Association and serves on the board of advisors of the National Institute for Literacy. Professor Shanahan has chaired two federal research review panels: the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children, and the National Early Literacy Panel. He was director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools, a member of the National Reading Panel that advised the U.S. Congress on reading research, and a member of the White House Assembly on Reading. Dr. Shanahan has published more than 150 books, articles, and chapters on reading education, and he received the Albert J. Harris Research Award for his work on reading disabilities. His research focuses on improvement of reading achievement, reading assessment, reading-writing relations, and family literacy. He co-designed Project FLAME, a family literacy program for Latino immigrants, which has received an Academic Excellence designation from the U.S. Department of Education. He serves on the Boards of Advisors of the National Center for Family Literacy and Reach Out and Read. Dr. Shanahan holds a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware in Reading Education. He was inducted to the Reading Hall of Fame in 2007.He is a former first grade teacher.

**Statement of Philosophy **“Nothing could be nobler than helping children and adults to become literacy, as reading is the key to economic success, full social and civic participation, and personal fulfillment.” **Title**: Teaching Disciplinary Literacy to Adolescents: Rethinking Content-Area Literacy **Publication Date**: Spring 2008 **Findings**: The preliminary findings from this study suggested that content area teachers in secondary settings teach only content, without any emphasis on reading comprehension strategies. Content area and secondary teachers in this study make recommendations for emphasizing reading comprehension strategies when using content textbooks with adolescents. **Review**: When students reach middle school and high school the gaps in reading proficiency widen. Primary school teachers begin to struggle with this issue in the content areas. Teachers who instruct on content areas like math, social studies, and science face a greater challenge to reach every learner. Students struggle with vocabulary and comprehension when there is no background knowledge on a particular subject. This study recommends various strategies that may help teachers address the issue of reading comprehension. · The National Reading Panel Report. Practical Advice for Teachers (2005) Provides strategies that students can use to focus on comprehension as they read. Recommends strategy teaching, where there is a gradual release of responsibility. The teacher models the strategy. Then the teacher guides students to use it within reading. Finally, the teacher assigns independent practice. · The Professionalization of the Teacher in Adult Literacy Education (1994) The study examined issues of teacher professionalization with adult literacy education. It concluded that adult education could improve through collaboration of practitioners, researchers, and policymakers. · A Developmental Comparison of Three Theoretical Models of the Reading-Writing Relationship (1986) This study looked at the relationship of learning to read and learning to write at two levels of reading. The findings suggest that reading and writing fit the interactive model at both levels of achievement. · The Shared Knowledge of Reading and Writing (1984) The purpose of this study was to determine whether reading and writing are closely related as commonly believed. The study found significant correlations between reading and writing. Correlations were lower than assumed. · Literacy Research that Makes a Difference (1997) This was an exploration of studies in literacy that have influenced instructional practices. Ø [|www.shanahanonliteracy.com] Ø [|www.childrenofthecode.org] Ø [|www.uic.edu/educ/cfl/vita-Shanahan.html] Ø [|www.nationalreadingpanel.org/NRPAbout/Biographies.htm]
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