LOUISE SPEAR-SWERLING Special Education and
BOOKS PUBLISHED:
Spear-Swerling, L., & Sternberg, R. J. (1996). Off track: When poor
readers become “learning disabled.”
Sternberg,
R. J., & Spear-Swerling, L., Editors. (1999). Perspectives on
learning disabilities: Biological, cognitive, contextual.
Sternberg,
R. J., & Spear-Swerling, L.
(1996).
Teaching for thinking.
CHAPTERS/SECTIONS PUBLISHED IN BOOKS:
Spear-Swerling, L.
(2004a).
A road map for understanding reading disability and other reading
problems: Origins, intervention, and prevention. In R. Ruddell & N. Unrau (Eds.),
Theoretical models and processes of reading, vol. 5.
Spear-Swerling, L.
(2004b).
Scaffolding feedback to promote accurate word identification
during children’s oral reading of text. In A. Pincus (Ed.), Tips from the experts: A compendium of
advice on literacy instruction from educators and researchers.
Spear-Swerling, L.
(1999).
Can we get there from here?
Learning disabilities and future educational
policy. In
R. J. Sternberg & L. Spear-Swerling (Eds.), Perspectives on learning
disabilities.
Spear, L. C., & Sternberg, R. J. (1992). Information processing,
experience, and reading disability.
In D. J. Stein & J. E. Young (Eds.), Cognitive
science and clinical disorders.
Spear, L. C., & Sternberg, R. J. (1987). An information-processing
framework for understanding reading disability. In S. J. Ceci (Ed.), Handbook of cognitive, social, and
neuropsychological aspects of learning disabilities.
PAPERS PUBLISHED IN PROCEEDINGS:
JOURNAL ARTICLES PUBLISHED:
Spear-Swerling, L. (2006). Children’s reading comprehension and oral reading fluency in easy text. Reading & Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 19, 199-220.
Spear-Swerling, L. (2004). Fourth-graders’ performance on a state-mandated assessment involving two different measures of reading comprehension. Reading Psychology, 25, 121-148.
Spear-Swerling, L., & Brucker, P. (in press). Teacher-education students’ reading abilities and their knowledge about word structure. Teacher Education and Special Education.
Spear-Swerling, L., & Brucker, P. (2004). Preparing novice teachers to develop basic reading and spelling skills in children. Annals of Dyslexia, 54, 332-364.
Spear-Swerling, L., & Brucker, P.
(2003).
Teachers’ acquisition of knowledge about English word
structure. Annals of
Dyslexia, 53, 72-103.
Spear-Swerling, L., Brucker, P., & Alfano, M. (2005). Teachers’ literacy-related knowledge and self-perceptions in relation to preparation and experience. Annals of Dyslexia, 55, 266-293.
Spear-Swerling, L., & Sternberg, R. J. (2001). What science offers teachers of reading. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 16, 51-57.
Spear-Swerling, L., & Sternberg, R. J. (January 1998). Curing our “epidemic”
of learning disabilities.
Phi Delta Kappan, 79,
397-401.
Spear-Swerling, L., & Sternberg, R. J. (1994). The road not taken: An
integrative theoretical model of reading disability. Journal of Learning
Disabilities, 27, 91-103, 122.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS:
Primary
writer,
Writer of
print guide for WETA/Reading Rockets public television series on reading,
Launching Young Readers. (2002)
Regular
columnist for LD Online, the leading national web site on learning disabilities,
since June 2005.
BOOK
REVIEWS:
Spear-Swerling,
L. (April 1999). How much can we learn from the history of people with
disabilities? (Book review of H. Covey’s Social perceptions of people with
disabilities in history).
Contemporary Psychology, 44(2), 152-154.
Spear-Swerling, L. (October 1999). Nuts, bolts, and controversies in making test accommodations. (Book review of E. Burns’s Test accommodations for students with disabilities). Contemporary Psychology, 44(5), 406-407.
Spear-Swerling, L. (March 2000). Straw men and very misleading reading: A review of Misreading Reading by Gerald Coles. (At http://www.ldonline.org/ and http://www.educationnews.org/).
CONFERENCE PAPERS ORALLY DELIVERED:
How “reading disabilities” hinder the
achievement of universal literacy.
Invited presentation, Green Center Conference on
Achieving Universal Literacy, the
Teachers’ knowledge base in two domains involved
in literacy instruction. Paper
presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of
Reading,
What teachers can do to prevent overidentification of learning disabilities. Invited presentation, Point-Counterpoint
Session, Annual Convention of the International Reading Association,
Literate adults’ knowledge about word structure:
Implications for teacher education.
Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Reading
Association,
Fourth-graders’ performance on
two different measures of reading comprehension. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of
the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading,
Preparing for change at
colleges and universities.
Invited symposium presentation, Annual Conference of the International
Dyslexia Association,
Reading policy and teacher education: The case of Connecticut’s Blueprint. Invited presentation, Annual Conference
of the International Dyslexia Association,
Comparing third graders’
reading comprehension with their fluency in easy text. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of
the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading,
Developing the effectiveness
of novice teachers’ reading instruction. Invited presentation, the Annual
Conference of the International Dyslexia Association,
What affects
teachers’ knowledge base about English word structure? Paper (with Dr. Pamela Brucker) presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific
Study of Reading,
Teachers’ word-structure knowledge and children’s
progress during tutoring. Paper (with Dr. Pamela Brucker) presented at the Annual Meeting of the
International Dyslexia Association,
Perceived and actual
literacy-related knowledge of teachers with high vs. low background for teaching
reading. Paper (with Dr.
Pamela Brucker and Dr. Michael Alfano) presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for
the Scientific Study of Reading,
Differentiated instruction and
children with special needs.
Invited panel member, Reading Rockets teleconference,
WETA,
WORKSHOP LEADERSHIP:
RECENT GRANTS RECEIVED:
CSU Research Grant, “Teachers’ Knowledge Base in Some Specific Areas Involved in Literacy Instruction,” awarded March 1998
CSU Research Grant,
“Component Abilities in
CSU Research Grant,
“Component Abilities in
CSU Research Grant, “Developing Effective Teaching of Phonemic Awareness and Word Decoding,” awarded March 2001
CSU Research Grant, “Improving the Effectiveness of Novice Teachers’ Reading Instruction,” awarded March 2002 (Co-investigator: Dr. Pamela Brucker)
CSU Research Grant, “Developing the Effectiveness of Teachers’ Instruction in Word Decoding and Spelling,” awarded March 2003 (Co-investigator: Dr. Pamela Brucker)
CSU Research Grant, “Determinants of Individual Differences in Reading Comprehension in Young Adolescents,” awarded March 2005 (Co-investigator: Dr. Pamela Brucker)
RESEARCH INTERESTS IN GENERAL:
reading acquisition; reading
difficulties; learning disabilities; teacher education in
reading
CURRENT/ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS:
Developing novice
teachers’ effectiveness in teaching reading and spelling
Teachers’ knowledge
base for literacy instruction
Adolescent literacy project
STUDENT INVOLVEMENT/COLLABORATION IN MY RESEARCH:
Both graduate and undergraduate students have served as research assistants in my research.
MASTER'S THESES ADVISEMENT:
Nina Stein, “How important is
fluid reasoning ability to success in a college chemistry course?” (completed fall
2003)
DISSERTATION TITLE:
Cognitive Correlates of Reading Difficulties
in the Elementary Grades
INSTITUTION GRANTING
Ph.D.: