Becoming Literate in the City The Baltimore Early Childhood Project

Literacy is one of the most highly valued cultural resources of contemporary American society, yet far too many children in the nation's cities leave school without becoming sufficiently literate. This book reports the results of a five-year longitudinal study in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, tracing literacy development from pre-kindergarten through third-grade for a sample of children from low and middle income families of European and African heritage. The authors examined the intimate culture of each child's home, defined by a confluence of parental beliefs, recurrent activities, and interactive processes, in relation to children's literacy competencies. Also examined were teacher beliefs and practices, and connections between home and school. With its broad-based consideration of the contexts of early literacy development, the book makes an important contribution to understanding how best to facilitate attainment of literacy for children from diverse backgrounds.

Preface; 1. Early appropriation of literacy in sociocultural context; 2. Growing up in Baltimore: the early childhood project; 3. The intimate culture of children's homes; 4. Processes of literacy enculturation in the home; 5. The development of literacy competencies and orientations; 6. The agenda and practices of schooling; 7. Relations between homes and schools; 8. Conclusions and implications for policy and practice; References.

Robert Serpell is Professor of Psychology at the University of Zambia. In addition to many scholarly journal articles and chapters, he has published several books including Culture's Influence on Behaviour (1976), Mobilizing Local Resources in Africa for Persons with Learning Difficulties or Mental Handicap (1984) and The Significance of Schooling: Life-Journeys in an African Society (1993). His main research interests are cultural aspects of human development, intelligence, multilingualism, literacy, assessment and intervention services for children with disabilities and their families, and educational curriculum development. He is an elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, a Member of the International Executive Committee of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (ISSBD), and a Member of the Editorial Board for the APA journal, International Perspectives in Psychology.
Linda Baker is Professor of Psychology and Director of the doctoral program in Applied Developmental Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University in cognitive psychology in 1977. Her research interests include early literacy development, motivation for reading, parental influences on cognitive development
Susan Sonnenschein is an associate professor in the Applied Developmental Psychology program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. In addition to her doctorate in developmental psychology, she received a master's degree in education psychology and is certified as a school psychologist.