Early Literacy Materials Selector (ELMS)

Kathleen Roskos teaches courses in reading assessment and instruction at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. Formerly an elementary school reading teacher, Dr. Roskos has served in a variety of educational administration roles, including director of federal programs in the public schools, department chair in higher education and director of the Ohio Literacy Initiative at the Ohio Department of Education. She has developed and coordinated numerous educational grants, most recently an online literacy specialist endorsement program. Dr. Roskos established one of the first public preschools in Ohio (Bridges and Links). She has been instrumental in the design and development of statewide online professional development in reading for P-12 teachers. Her more recent activities involve professional development in Early Reading First programs in Arizona, New Mexico and Ohio. Dr. Roskos studies early literacy development, teacher learning and the instructional design of professional development for educators, and has published numerous research articles, chapters and books on these topics. She recently completed service as a lead writer of the 2010 Educator Professional Standards of the International Reading Association. Lisa Lenhart is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Akron. She is currently the Director of the college's Center for Literacy and is PI on numerous grants. For the past several years, she has been engaged in creating online professional development for teachers. She has co-authored several books including Oral Language and Early Literacy in Preschool with Kathleen Roskos and Reading and Learning to Read, a popular textbook. Prior to her work at The University of Akron, Lisa taught in Ohio's schools for more than 10 years. In her free time Lisa likes to read, bake and hike. She is married to Matt and the mother of two daughters, Hannah and Emma. Dr. Brandi Noll is an Assistant Professor at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio where she teaches literacy courses. She is a former teacher, reading specialist and literacy coach. Dr. Noll earned her masters of Reading at Malone University in Canton, Ohio and her PhD in Elementary Education with a focus in Literacy at The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. Dr. Noll has presented both locally and nationally at a variety of literacy related conferences including the International Reading Association's National Conference. She has also published articles in a variety of journals and online sites. Dr. Noll lives near Canton, Ohio with her husband and three children, and enjoys working onsite with local teachers in order to bring research into their classrooms.

Foreword by Carol Vukelich Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors 1. An Introduction to ELMS 2. Planning a Review 3. More Than a Simple Review of Materials 4. Taking Inventory of Teaching Materials 5. Examining the Quality of Curriculum Material 6. Analyzing the Guidance Provided in Curriculum Materials 7. Arriving at the Final Rating 8. Technical Information Resource A. ELMS Tool: A Tool for Early Literacy Program Materials Review Resource B. Glossary of Terms Resource C. Example of Completed Part II: Quality of Curriculum Materials Resource D. Example of Completed Part III: Analysis of Guidance Resource E. Organizers for Planning and Facilitating Reviews Resource F. Case Study Example of a Team Review References Index

"This tool provides a much needed resource for considering features of curriculum materials in a systematic way. I know of no other tool like it for early childhood materials. Even if a user wishes to tweak in a place or two, by broadening the research considerations, the overall framework and processes would still be extremely useful." -- Judith A. Schickedanz "Early Literacy Materials Selector (ELMS) provides a tool for choosing the right literacy program that will glean high level results for your students. It provides a roadmap for choosing a program that supports the instructional components and needs of beginning teachers to seasoned veteran educators." -- Toni Jones, Superintendent "The purpose of this book is useful for any professional that needs to examine and evaluate educational materials for early literacy programs. I feel this book serves its purpose. It is highly organized, efficiently designed coupled with an effective layout to make good use of time and energy. Meanwhile, it contains a valuable rationale and direction. This book would not only be useful but purposeful enough to give direction and clarity to the educational materials that it seeks to evaluate." -- Julie Frederick, Teacher "Learning to read and write is too important to be left to chance. Roskos and Lenhart have created a highly effective tool for examining the quality of early literacy materials. Teachers, administrators, and curriculum directors will appreciate the clearly-written guidance for conducting a systematic review of core program materials. It's the first of its kind, and will be a welcome resource for those who evaluate materials." -- Susan B. Neuman, Professor, University of Michigan