DIVA comprehensive look at our nation’s literacy problem and a thoughtful guide for improvement.br/divDIVAn alarmingly high number of American students continue to lack proficiency in reading, math, and science. The various attempts to address this problem have all too often resulted in “silver bullet” solutions such as reducing class size or implementing voucher programs. But as the authors of this critically important book show, improving literacy also requires an understanding of complex and interrelated social issues that shape a child’s learning. More than twenty years of research demonstrate that literacy success is determined by a combination of sociocultural forces including parenting, preschool, classroom instruction, and other factors that have a direct impact on a child’s development.BRHere, Frederick J. Morrison, Heather J. Bachman, and Carol McDonald Connor present the most up-to-date research on the diverse factors that relate to a child’s literacy development from preschool through early elementary school. Urging greater emphasis on the immediate sources of influence on children, the authors warn against simple, single solutions that ignore other pivotal aspects of the problem. In a concluding chapter, the authors propose seven specific recommendations for improving literacy—recommendations that can make a real difference in American education./I/B/DIVAt last, a book devoted to the multiple roots of literacy. In a welcome departure from the strictly didactic approach, Morrison, Bachman, and Connor pull together research from many fields to show that the basis for literacy begins very early in life and involves so much more than knowing letters and words. The authors appreciate the complexity of child development and have done a fine job explaining how the child’s motivation, relationships, and larger environment all contribute to the achievement of reading.-Edward Zigler, Sterling Professor of Psyc@A&G®zá ¾Û€