This book addresses the crucial and controversial questions that face today's reading scholars, educators, and professionals. Contributors to the book offer their insights and expertise on such issues as the phonics/whole language debate, the state of reading comprehension instruction, the validity of and need for standards and assessment, effective methods of teacher preparation, and family literacy. Following an Introduction: "Reflections on Literacy Education" (Richard C. Anderson), articles under Part 1: Learning to Read, are: (1) "Understanding Beginning Reading: A Journey through Teaching and Research" (Isabel L. Beck); (2) "Family Cultures and Literacy Learning" (Vivian L. Gadsden); (3) "Growing Successful Readers: Homes, Communities, and Schools" (Victoria Purcell-Gates); (4) "The Three-Cueing System" (Marilyn Jager Adams); and (5) "The Prevention of Reading Failure: Teach Reading and Writing" (Janet S. Gaffney). Articles under Part 2: Purposes for Reading and Talking about Books are: (6) "Comprehension Strategies Instruction" (Michael Pressley); (7) "Balanced Instruction and the Role of Classroom Discourse" (Taffy E. Raphael); and (8) "Intellectually Stimulating Story Discussions" (Richard C. Anderson; Clark Chinn; Martha Waggoner; Kim Nguyen). Under Part 3: Writing and Learning to Write are these articles: (9) "Some Things We Know about Learning to Write" (Sarah Warshauer Freedman); and (10) "Young Writers: The People and Purposes That Influence Their Literacy" (Jane Hansen). Under Part 4: Standards and Assessment are these articles: (11) "Reading Assessment and Learning to Read" (Peter Afflerbach); (12) "Standards and Assessments: Tools for Crafting Effective Instruction?" (P. David Pearson); and (13) "Performance Assessment in Reading: Implications for Teacher Education" (James V. Hoffman; Jo Worthy; Nancy L. Roser; William Rutherford). Under Part 5: Teaching and Teacher Education are these articles: (14) "Professional Development in the Instruction of Reading" (Virginia Richardson); and (15) "The Rhetoric of All, the Reality of Some, and the Unmistakable Smell of Mortality" (Edward J. Kameenui). Appended is "A Principled Statement about Beginning Reading." (NKA)