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
Should I Set Reading Purposes for My Students?
Shanahan on Literacy
What Do Primary Grade Children Need to Know about Informational Text?
Shanahan on Literacy
Why Letter of the Week May Not Be Such a Good Idea
Shanahan on Literacy
On Climbing the Mountain: Four Ways Not to Deal with Complex Text
Shanahan on Literacy
What Phonological Awareness Skill Should We Be Screening?
Shanahan on Literacy
Six Pieces of Advice on Teaching with Complex Text
Shanahan on Literacy
Why Sequence Is Not Always So Important
Shanahan on Literacy
How Many Times Should Students Copy the Spelling Words?
Shanahan on Literacy
Why I’m Not Impressed with Effective Teachers
Shanahan on Literacy
Writing as a Response to Reading
Shanahan on Literacy