Finding the Right Texts

Elfrieda H. Hiebert, PhD, is CEO and President of TextProject. She has worked in the field of early reading acquisition for more than 40 years as a classroom teacher, teacher educator, and researcher. Her research, which addresses how fluency, vocabulary, and knowledge can be fostered through appropriate texts, has been published in numerous scholarly journals and books. Dr. Hiebert’s contributions to research and practice have been recognized with such honors as the Research to Practice Award from the American Educational Research Association and the Oscar S. Causey Award from the Literacy Research Association.Misty Sailors, PhD, is Associate Professor of Literacy Education in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her current research focuses on the instruction that surrounds elementary classroom texts, teacher education, and language policies related to reading instruction in international settings. Dr. Sailors is the Primary Investigator of a Teacher Quality Professional Development Reading grant. She also directs a project to develop reading and content-area materials for elementary learners in South Africa, funded by the United States Agency for International Development. Dr. Sailors is a recipient of the President’s Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence from the University of Texas at San Antonio and the Recognition Award for Emerging Scholars from the American Association of University Women.

"Finding the Right Texts marks a watershed in early reading instruction. Over the past few years, our collective scholarship has restored text to its rightful--and central--role as a major factor in explaining both success and failure in learning to read, particularly for those students who depend on schools to learn to read. Read this wonderful volume, and you'll never look at a text the same way again."--P. David Pearson, PhD, Evelyn Lois Corey Professor Emeritus of Instructional Science, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley"Wow! This is truly a masterful collection from a 'dream team' of researchers. Instructors can use this book to teach preservice teachers and graduate students how to evaluate core reading programs. Curriculum directors, administrators, and classroom teachers will find guidelines for selecting well-designed programs that will bring about results for all students. The essential guidelines in these pages could also help publishers develop better texts for beginning or struggling readers."--Lynette Block, MEd, Nebraska Reading First Director, Nebraska Department of Education "Anyone who works with teachers to improve reading instruction will be hungry for this book. The very well-respected editors and contributors give us research-based answers to the question of why texts are often so hard for students to read. They provide well-articulated remedies that will benefit all students, especially English language learners and at-risk readers. This book is substantive, engaging, and a delight to read and ponder. It gives professional development providers, coaches, reading specialists, and teacher educators important knowledge for helping teachers plan the best instruction they can with the materials available to them."--Kathy Harris, instructional coach, Piner–Olivet Union School District, Santa Rosa, California"This book could become a classic. It provides clear information on what makes texts difficult for students and what teachers can do about it."--Richard L. Allington, PhD, Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, University of Tennessee -

• 1. The (Mis)Match between Texts and Students Who Depend on Schools to Become Literate, Elfrieda H. HiebertI. Frameworks for Creating and Selecting Instructional Texts2. Decodable Text: Why, When, and How?, Marilyn Jager Adams3. Repetition of Words: The Forgotten Variable in Texts for Beginning and Struggling Readers, Elfrieda H. Hiebert and Leigh Ann Martin4. The Challenges of Developing Leveled Texts in and for Developing Countries: The Ithuba Writing Project in South Africa, Misty Sailors, James V. Hoffman, and Mark W.F. CondonII. Addressing the Content of Texts for Beginning and Struggling Readers: The Role of Informational Texts5. Text in Hands-On Science, Gina N. Cervetti and Jacqueline Barber6. Informational Text Difficulty for Beginning Readers, Nell K. Duke and Alison K. Billman7. Text Modification: Enhancing English Language Learners' Reading Comprehension, Young-Suk Kim and Catherine E. SnowIII. Instructional Strategies for Adapting Texts for Beginning and Struggling Readers8. Text–Reader Matching: Meeting the Needs of Struggling Readers, Heidi Anne E. Mesmer and Staci Cumming9. Placing and Pacing Beginning Readers in Texts: The Match between Texts and Children's Knowledge of Words, Kathleen J. Brown10. When the Right Texts Are Difficult for Struggling Readers, Alison K. Billman, Katherine Hilden, and Juliet L. Halladay11. Teaching Adolescents Who Struggle with Text: Research and Practice, Mary E. CurtisIV. Pulling It Together12. Teachers Using Texts: Where We Are and What We Need, Anne McGill-Franzen