Timothy Shanahan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he was Founding Director of the UIC Center for Literacy. Previously, he was director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools. He is author/editor of more than 200 publications on literacy education. His research emphasizes the connections between reading and writing, literacy in the disciplines, and improvement of reading achievement.
Tim is past president of the International Literacy Association. He served as a member of the Advisory Board of the National Institute for Literacy under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and he helped lead the National Reading Panel, convened at the request of Congress to evaluate research on the teaching reading, a major influence on reading education. He chaired two other federal research review panels: the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth, and the National Early Literacy Panel, and helped write the Common Core State Standards.
He was inducted to the Reading Hall of Fame in 2007, and is a former first-grade teacher.
Recent articles
Afterschool and Community Programs
Creating Programs for Language Minority Families
Common Core Standards
Does Disciplinary Literacy Have a Place in Elementary School?
Recent blog posts
Shanahan on Literacy
How to Teach Summarizing (Part II)
Shanahan on Literacy
How to Teach Summarizing (Part I)
Shanahan on Literacy
Complex Text for Beginning Readers … Good Idea or Not?
Shanahan on Literacy
Isn’t Independent Reading a Research-Based Practice?
Shanahan on Literacy
How to Monitor Vocabulary Learning
Shanahan on Literacy
More on the PBS News Hour Dyslexia Segment
Shanahan on Literacy
What about that PBS News Hour Report on Dyslexia and the Controversy It Set Off?
Shanahan on Literacy
What Is the Science of Reading?
Shanahan on Literacy
Have the Reading Wars Become Research Wars?
Shanahan on Literacy
Red Shirting Kindergarten Kids — Good Idea or Bad?
Shanahan on Literacy
How to Make Reading Workshop More Effective
Shanahan on Literacy