Accelerating Language Skills and Content Knowledge Through Shared Book Reading

Susan B. Neuman, Ed.D., is a professor in educational studies specializing in early literacy development. Previously, she directed the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. Her research and teaching interests include early childhood policy, curriculum, and early reading instruction from prekindergarten to Grade 3. In her role as Assistant Secretary, she established the Reading First program and the Early Reading First program and was responsible for the implementation of all activities in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act. Coordinator of Education Outreach, Department of Pediatrics, Center for Academic and Reading Skills, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin, Suite 2443, Houston, TX 77030. Dr. Pollard-Durodola coordinates two projects in the 5-year program study, a Oracy/Literacy Development in Spanish-Speaking Students, a funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Institute of Education Sciences. For Project III, she conducts interrater reliability checks across sites, coordinates classroom observations of students in kindergarten through second grade, and provides training to classroom observers. For Project V, she assists in the development of a supplemental, intensive proactive Spanish curriculum and intervention program and in the ongoing training and professional development for intervention implementers.