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
Teaching Reading in a Noisy Environment
Shanahan on Literacy
How Do You Make a Good Reader? Just the Basics
Shanahan on Literacy
New Evidence on Teaching Reading at Frustration Levels
Shanahan on Literacy
The Role of Motivation in Teaching with Complex Text
Shanahan on Literacy
Sight Vocabulary for Preschool
Shanahan on Literacy
How Complex a Text Can I Scaffold?
Shanahan on Literacy
Our Younger Readers are Doing Better, So What’s He Upset about Now?
Shanahan on Literacy
Disciplinary Literacy: The Basics
Shanahan on Literacy
How Should We Combine Reading and Writing?
Shanahan on Literacy
How Much Reading Gain Should be Expected from Reading Interventions?
Shanahan on Literacy
Instructional Level and Teaching with Complex Text
Shanahan on Literacy