Returning to Michigan after a two year hiatus where she served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education under President George W. Bush, Susan B. Neuman is a Professor in Educational Studies specializing in early literacy development. In her role as Assistant Secretary, she is especially proud of her work in establishing the Reading First program (funded at $6 billion), and the Early Reading First program ($75 million). At Michigan, she has directed the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA), focusing early childhood policy, curriculum, and early reading instruction, pre-kindergarten - grade 3.
Susan is involved in a number of research projects all working to change the odds for children in poverty. She received her doctorate at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California in 1977, and her B.A. at American University. Prior to coming to Michigan, she was a Professor at Temple University, the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and Eastern Connecticut State University.
She is the author of books that include: Nurturing Knowledge: Building a foundation for school success by linking early literacy to math, science, art and social studies (with Kathy Roskos) (2007); Reading to your young child: A parent's guide (with Tanya Wright) (2007. The Handbook of Early Literacy Research (Volume I) (2000); Access for All: Closing the Book Gap for Children In Early Education (2001), Handbook on Early Literacy Research (Volume II) with David Dickinson (2006), Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practice (NAEYC, 2000), Children Achieving: Best Practices in Early Literacy (1998, International Reading Association), Single-subject experimental design: Applications for Literacy (1995), Literacy in the Television Age (Ablex, 1995), and Language and Literacy in Early Childhood (Harcourt Brace, 1993).
New:
Educating the Other America: Breaking the cylce of poverty by
improving education and literacy:
that's the ultimate goal of this
trailblazing book from top experts. Educating the Other America
brings together more than 30 of the biggest names in education to
tackle the challenges faced by children who live below the poverty
line--and offer fresh, cutting-edge ideas for closingthe achievement gap.
"Superb and engrossing...[brings] together science and compassion." --G. Reid Lyon, Southern Methodist University
"Neuman and her colleagues...point the way to reduce our nation's tragic achievement disparities." --Sharon Rosenkoetter, Oregon State University, Corvallis
Coming November, 2008
Changing the Odds
Today, our schools are failing, not due to the "soft bigotry of low
expectations," but because there are multitudes of children growing
up in circumstances that make them highly vulnerable.
Children who come to school from dramatically unequal circumstances leave school with similarly unequal skills and abilities. Failing to recognize the gravity of the problem, pundits have offered more platitudes than solutions, arguing that there are "no excuses" for low achievement.
Yet despite these claims and the more than 400 billion dollars pouring into education yearly, schools are failing miserably at beating the odds, with some 30% of high school students in cities dropping out throughout the country. The rhetoric of leaving no child behind has trumped reality.
This book shows how we can do it differently. After laying the critical groundwork for the need for change--excessive waste with little effect--it provides a vivid portrait, not for beating the odds, but changing the odds for high poverty children. Describing how previous reforms have missed the mark, it provides a framework based on seven essential principles for implementing more effective programs and policies.
Building on successes while being fiscally responsible is a message that has been shown to have wide bi-partisan appeal, embraced by both liberals and conservatives.