Category: Centers

The Purdue University Research Repository (PURR) recognized the College of Education’s Evaluation and Learning Research Center’s "Somalia Education Evaluation Reports" as a PURR Fall 2025 Featured Dataset. This selective distinction acknowledges exemplary publications that align with PURR’s mission for open,...

Two College of Education faculty represented the Purdue Center for Rural Research, Education and Outreach at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education.

We are teaching young children in a moment of contradiction. Decades of literacy research demonstrate that abundant access to books is one of the strongest predictors of early reading development, vocabulary growth, and long-term academic success (Allington, 2014; Neuman & Celano, 2012). This body of research consistently shows that children who have frequent opportunities to read self-selected texts encounter more words, develop broader background knowledge, and read with greater fluency over time. In other words, access itself functions as an instructional condition, not a peripheral support.

The national College Board organization, founders of the SAT® and AP® programs, invited the Purdue Center for Rural Research, Education, and Outreach to present a workshop at several venues in Indiana in September.

Educator preparation programs (EPPs) across the country are shifting their literacy curricula to align with the research-based approaches of the “Science of Reading” (SoR).  With this change comes the challenge of selecting textbooks and other course materials that will ensure effective classroom practices. This brief aims to provide a quick starting point for identifying literacy textbooks and materials. The books listed in this brief were part of a discussion at The Reading League – Indiana Higher Education Collaboration during its September 2025 meeting. Colleagues from different disciplines shared their interests and preferences for books to teach reading, both at basic and more advanced levels. The Reading League has colleagues in the areas of literacy/reading education, curriculum and instruction, special education, speech and hearing sciences, human development and family science, early childhood education, and other specialties. We teach undergraduate and graduate courses. Our list is not by any means comprehensive, and we acknowledge that what works for one course or audience may not work for another. This list begins with comprehensive textbooks that focus on building the foundation for SoR-aligned literacy instruction. The list then provides more information on specific areas of literacy learning. Please note that the ratings from the National Council on Teaching Quality (NCTQ) (n.d.) are listed in parenthesis between the title and author(s) whenever possible. NCTQ has a 3-point rating scale. According to their scale, a 1 indicates that the book is unacceptable according to certain SoR standards that they have set. Two as a rating indicates that the book is acceptable according to these standards. A label of “exemplary” is given for books with a 3 on this scale. Please keep these in mind as you consider these books. Also, please note that some of these books have not been rated by NCTQ or, in certain circumstances, not all editions of the book have been rated. We have indicated the closest rated edition’s rating in these cases, and we have labeled unreviewed books as (not reviewed). The popularity ranking seems to be based on the number of identified courses that use a particular book out of the 1961 materials reviewed.

Game-based learning can provide additional inroads for building skills such as narrative storytelling, #PurdueEDU’s William Watson told K-12DIVE.