Four literacy experts lay out the evidence in this compelling book, based on the well-known Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development that inspired the landmark resource Beginning Literacy with Language.

Q: Do strong early literacy skills guarantee later reading and academic success?

A: No. While early literacy skills are important, they’re not enough to ensure later school success.

Following a group of children living in low-income families from preschool through high school, the authors charted the students’ outcomes using test data to reflect language and literacy skills, self-report data reflecting motivation and engagement in school, and interviews with students, teachers, and parents. Through the sobering discoveries made during this long-term study, readers will discover the critical importance of factors, such as:

• ongoing reading support in middle school and high school, especially in the area of comprehension
• academic and emotional support from teachers and parents
• the intermediate steps needed to achieve long-term goals
• risk factors such as attending multiple schools, family disruption, and social-emotional difficulties

Readers will also see how the specific risk factor of poverty relates to achievement, motivation, and school climate, and how elements of a special education model — more student/teacher interaction, smaller class size, and student directed learning — could enhance the quality of educational programs serving all adolescents.

With this enlightening, meticulously researched book, all education professionals will gain a better understanding of factors critical to school success — and learn how to develop programs that go beyond K–3 literacy to help adolescents reach their full potential.


Product Review

"Each chapter adds another piece to the complex puzzle of adolescent achievement…this book is a must read for anyone who is concerned with making middle and high schools places where adolescents thrive and succeed." --IDA Perspectives on Language and Literacy, reviewed by Emily Ocker Dean, McMurry University