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?
Background Knowledge
Five Key Principles for Effective Vocabulary Instruction
Recent blog posts
Shanahan on Literacy
Teaching My Daughters to Read. Part IV: Success
Shanahan on Literacy
Teaching My Daughters to Read. Part III: Phonics
Shanahan on Literacy
Teaching My Daughters to Read. Part II: Print Awareness
Shanahan on Literacy
Teaching My Daughters to Read. Part I: Context
Shanahan on Literacy
Which Text Levels Should We Teach With?
Shanahan on Literacy
Prior Knowledge, Or He Isn’t Going to Pick on the Baseball Study
Shanahan on Literacy
How Can We Take Advantage of Reading–Writing Relationships?
Shanahan on Literacy
How to Knock Down Five Straw Man Arguments Against Phonics
Shanahan on Literacy
Why Is It So Hard to Improve Reading Achievement?
Shanahan on Literacy
Did Reading First Reveal Phonics Instruction to be Futile?
Shanahan on Literacy