This is the first research handbook to address all dimensions of diversity that have an impact on literacy achievement. Leading experts examine how teaching and learning intersect with cultural and language differences and socioeconomic disparities in today's increasingly diverse schools and communities. The volume weaves compelling research findings together with theory, policy considerations, and discussions of exemplary instructional practices. It offers fresh perspectives on such topics as family literacy, multiliteracies, drawing on cultural resources in the classroom, factors that promote success in high-poverty schools, equity issues, and ways to teach specific literacy skills. The concluding section provides crucial recommendations for teacher preparation and professional development. This book contains four parts. Part I, Perspectives About Learning Among Diverse Students, contains: (1) Relating Diversity and Literacy Theory (Honorine Nocon and Michael Cole); (2) Policy Related to Issues of Diversity and Literacy: Implications for English Learners (Eugene E. Garcia and Ann-Marie Wiese); (3) What Do We Know about the Discourse Patterns of Diverse Students in Multiple Settings? (Iliana Reyes, Leisy Wyman, Norma Gonzalez, Eliane Rubinstein-Avila, Karen Spear-Ellinwood, Perry Gilmore, and Luis C. Moll); (4) Family Literacy: Recognizing Cultural Significance (Patricia A. Edwards, Jeanne R. Paratore, and Nancy L. Roser); (5) Poverty and Its Relation to Development and Literacy (Pedro Portes and Spencer Salas); and (6) Language, Literacy, and Content: Adolescent English Language Learners (Robert T. Jimenez and Brad L. Teague). Part II, Special Issues Concerning Literacy, contains: (7) Academic English and African American Vernacular English: Exploring Possibilities for Promoting the Literacy Learning of All Children (Cynthia H. Brock, Gwendolyn Thompson McMillon, Julie L. Pennington, Dianna Townsend, and Diane Lapp); (8) Engaging Diverse Students in Multiple Literacies In and Out of School (Cheryl A. McLean, Erica C. Boling, and Jennifer Rowsell); (9) The New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension and the Irony of No Child Left Behind: Students Who Require our Assistance the Most Actually Receive It the Least (Donald J. Leu, J. Gregory McVerry, W. Ian O'Byrne, Lisa Zawilinski, Jill Castek, and Douglas K. Hartman); (10) Roles of Engagement, Valuing, and Identification in Reading Development of Students from Diverse Backgrounds (John T. Guthrie, Robert Rueda, Linda B. Gambrell, and Danette A. Morrison); (11) Robust Informal Learning Environments for Youth from Nondominant Groups: Implications for Literacy Learning in Formal Schooling (Kris Gutierrez and Carol D. Lee); (12) Assessing Student Progress in the Time of No Child Left Behind (Georgia Earnest Garcia and Eurydice B. Bauer); and (13) Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners: Effective Management of Language Arts Instruction (D. Ray Reutzel, Lesley Mandel Morrow, and Heather Casey). Part III, Strategies For Teaching, contains: (14) Cross-Language Transfer of Phonological, Orthographic, and Semantic Knowledge (Maria S. Carlo); (15) Learning to Read in English: Teaching Phonics to Beginning Readers from Diverse Backgrounds (Linnea C. Ehri); (16) Vocabulary Instruction for Diverse Students (Susan Watts Taffe, Camille L. Z. Blachowicz, and Peter J. Fisher); (17) Comprehension: The Means, Motive, and Opportunity for Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners (Susie M. Goodin, Catherine M. Weber, P. David Pearson, and Taffy E. Raphael); and (18) Helping Diverse Learners to Become Fluent Readers (Melanie R. Kuhn and Timothy Rasinski). Part IV, Preparing Teachers to Teach Literacy to Diverse Students, contains: (19) Teacher Knowledge in Culturally and Linguistically Complex Classrooms: Lessons from the Golden Age and Beyond (Django Paris and Arnetha F. Ball); (20) Protecting Our Investment: Induction and Mentoring of Novice Teachers in Diversity-Rich Schools (Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher); and (21) Professional Development: Continuing to Understand How to Teach Children from Diverse Backgrounds (Margarita Calderon). An introduction by Lesley Mandel Morrow, Robert Rueda, and Diane Lapp is also included. [Foreword by Edmund W. Gordon and afterword by Eric J. Cooper.]