Peter Afflerbach, PhD, is Professor of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research interests include individual differences in reading, reading comprehension, and reading assessment. Dr. Afflerbach has served on National Academy of Education and National Academy of Sciences committees related to literacy and is a member of the 2025 Reading Framework Committee of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. He was elected to the International Literacy Association's Reading Hall of Fame in 2009. Dr. Afflerbach has published in numerous theoretical and practical journals. Prior to his university career, he served as a Chapter 1 remedial reading teacher and as a middle school reading and writing teacher.
Reading instruction is too often grounded in a narrowly defined "science of reading" that focuses exclusively on cognitive skills and strategies. Yet cognition is just one aspect of reading development. This book guides K-8 educators to understand and address other scientifically supported factors that influence each student's literacy learning, including metacognition, motivation and engagement, social-emotional learning, self-efficacy, and more. Peter Afflerbach uses classroom vignettes to illustrate the broad-based nature of student readers' growth, and provides concrete suggestions for instruction and assessment. The book's utility is enhanced by end-of-chapter review questions and activities and a reproducible tool, the Healthy Readers Profile, which can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.