Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Principles of best practice : finding the common ground / Susan Anders Mazzoni and Linda B. Gambrell -- Toward a more complex view of balance in the literacy curriculum / P. David Pearson and Taffy E. Raphael -- Current practices in early literacy development / Lesley Mandel Morrow and Elizabeth Asbury -- What research says about teaching phonics / Patricia M. Cunningham -- Best practices in vocabulary instruction : what effective teachers do / Camille L.Z. Blachowicz and Peter J. Fisher -- Best practices in comprehension instruction / Cathy Collins Block and Michael Pressley -- Fluency in the classroom : strategies for whole-class and group work / Melanie R. Kuhn -- Building a sound writing program / Karen Bromley -- Material matters : using children's literature to charm readers (or Why Harry Potter and the Princess diaries matter) / Douglas Fisher, James Flood, and Diane Lapp -- Adolescent literacy / Lisa Patel Stevens and Thomas W. Bean -- Best practices in literacy assessment / Peter Winograd, Leila Flores-Dueñas, and Harriette Arrington -- Organizing effective literacy instruction : grouping strategies and instructional routines / D. Ray Reutzel -- See it change : a primer on the basal reader / Nancy L. Roser, James V. Hoffman, and Norma J. Carr -- Strategies for literacy development for students with disabilities / Kim Baker and Richard L. Allington -- Effective use of technology in literacy instruction / Michael C. McKenna, Linda D. Labbo, and David Reinking -- Achieving best practices in literacy instruction / James W. Cunningham and Kimberly H. Creamer.