David Dickinson

Professor of Education, Interim Department Chair

Ed.D., Harvard Graduate School of Education, 1982

Research Area

Early literacy development, professional development

Professor Dickinson is interested in the home and classroom factors that support children's acquisition of language and literacy abilities. His work addresses both basic questions about the role of language in literacy and in practical questions about strategies for improving the literacy-learning opportunities of children. Basic research questions that he studies relate to the role of language development in the consolidation of young children's linguistic, cognitive, and social abilities in fostering literacy growth. Professor Dickinson's applied interests include efforts to identify strategies that result in enhanced learning and in work developing techniques and systems for delivering materials and professional development to teachers that are effective and cost effective.

Short Biography

David Dickinson is professor and interim Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt University's Peabody School of Education.  After graduating from Oberlin College and while working toward his M. Ed at Temple University, he taught elementary school in the Philadelphia area for five years. He taught African-American children from working class homes and became interested in the role of language in literacy. He pursued his interest in language and cognition as he worked on his doctorate at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. 

After studying the association between conceptual development and vocabulary learning, he and Catherine Snow embarked on a longitudinal study of the contributions of homes and preschool classrooms to language and literacy development. They followed low-income children from age three into middle school.  He was responsible for studying children's classroom experiences, and found evidence that specific kinds of classroom experiences contribute to children's long-term language and literacy development.  The results of this study are described in Beginning Literacy with Language. 

Realizing the pressing need to enhance classroom support for language and early literacy he worked with colleagues from Education Development Center (EDC) to develop and study professional development interventions and create tools for describing classroom supports for literacy and language including the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO). 

As evidence mounted that preschool classrooms too often lack sufficient intellectual challenge or intentional support for language, Judith Schickedanz and Dickinson co-authored Opening the World of Learning (OWL), a comprehensive preschool curriculum. 

He has authored numerous articles and co-authored books that include two volumes of the Handbook of Early Literacy Research.  He continues to examine language supports in classrooms and challenges associated with enhancing program quality.

Currently he is studying the impact of OWL in a large Head Start program and is helping to lead an Early Reading First Project in Nashville.  He has participated on numerous national advisory panels, was a Commissioner for the National Association for the Education of Young Children in the revision of its accreditation standards and now is on a National Academies of Science committee that is examining the relationship between children's academic language abilities and the achievement gap.

Learn More about David Dickinson:

Projects | Courses Taught
Selected Publications | CV | Media Mentions

Selected Publications

Books, Curriculum, and Research Tools

Dickinson, D.K. & Neuman, S. (Eds.), (2006). Handbook of early literacy research: Vol II. New York: Guilford Publications.

Schickedanz, J. A. & Dickinson, D.K. & Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (2005), Opening the World of Learning: A Comprehensive Early Literacy Program. Parsippany, NJ: Pearson Early Learning.

Smith, M.W., Dickinson, D.K. with Sangeorge, A. & Anasatopoulos, A. (2002). Toolkit for Assessing Early Literacy in Classrooms. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Dickinson, D.K. & Tabors, P.O. (Eds.) (2001). Beginning literacy with language: Young children learning at home and school. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

Neuman, S. B. & Dickinson, D. K. (Eds.), (2001). Handbook of early literacy research. New York: Guilford Publications.

Selected Recent Articles and Chapters

Dickinson, D.K. (2007). "Breakthrough is A Path Best Not Taken." [Review of the book Breakthrough by M. Fullan]. Journal of Educational Change, 8: 279-282.

Dickinson, D.K., & Caswell, LC. (2007). Building Support for Language and Early Literacy in Preschool Classrooms Through In-Service Professional Development: Effects of the Literacy Environment Enrichment Program (LEEP). Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 22, 243 – 260.

Dickinson, D.K. (2006). Toward a toolkit approach to describing classroom quality. Early Education and Development, 17, 1, 177-202.

Dickinson, D.K. & Brady, J. (2005). Toward Effective Support for Language and Literacy Through Professional Development: A Decade of Experiences and Data. In Zaslow, M. & Martinez-Beck (Ed.). Critical issues in early childhood professional development. (pp. 141 - 170). Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

Dickinson, D.K., McCabe, A. & Essex, M. (2005). A Window of Opportunity We Must Open to All: The Case for High Quality Center-based Preschool. In Dickinson, D.K. & Neuman, S.B. Handbook of early literacy research: Vol. II.

Adger, C.T., Hoyle, S.M. & Dickinson, D.K. (2004). Locating learning in in-service education for preschool teachers. American Education Research Journal, 41 (4), 867 - 900.

Dickinson, D.K., McCabe, A., Clark-Chiarelli, N., & Wolf, A. (2004). Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness in low-income Spanish and English bilingual preschool children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 25, pp. 323-347.

Dickinson, D.K., McCabe, A. & Clark-Chiarelli, N. (2004). Preschool-based prevention of reading disability: Realities vs. possibilities. In C.A. Stone, E. R. Silliman, B.J. Ehren, & K. Apel (Eds.), Handbook of Language and Literacy: Development and Disorders (pp.209 - 227). New York: Guilford Press.

Dickinson, D. K., St. Pierre, R. B., & Pettengill, J. (2004). High-quality classrooms: A key ingredient to family literacy programs' support for children's literacy. In B. Wasik (Ed.), Handbook of Family Literacy (pp. 137-154). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Dickinson, D.K., McCabe, A., Anastasopoulos, L., Peisner-Feinberg, E., Poe, M. (2003). The Comprehensive Language Approach to Early Literacy: The Interrelationships Among Vocabulary, Phonological Sensitivity, and Print Knowledge Among Preschool-aged Children. The Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 465-481.

Dickinson, D.K. (2003). Are measures of "global quality" sufficient? Educational Researcher, 32, 27 - 28.

Dickinson, D.K. (2003). Toward More Effective Support for Language and Literacy in Preschool Classrooms Serving Low-Income Populations. In monograph for the National Center for Family Literacy.

Dickinson, D.K. (2003). Why We Must Improve Teacher-Child Conversations in Preschools and the Promise of Professional Development. In L. Girolametto & E. Weitzman (Eds.), Enhancing caregiver language facilitation in childcare settings (pp. 4-1 - 4-8). Toronto, Canada: The Hanen Institute.

Dickinson, D.K., & McCabe, A. (2003). A Framework For Examining Book Reading in Early Childhood Classrooms. In A. van Kleeck, , & S. Stahl, & E.B Bauer (Eds.), On Reading Books to Children: Parents and Teachers (pp. 95 - 113). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum.

Dickinson, D.K. & McCabe, A. & Sprague, K. (2003). Teacher rating of oral language and literacy development (TROLL): Individualizing early literacy instruction with a standards-based rating tool. The Reading Teacher, April, 554 - 569.

Dickinson, D.K. (2002). Shifting Images of Developmentally Appropriate Practice As Seen Through Different Lenses. Educational Researcher, 31 (1), 26-32.

Dickinson, D.K. & Tabors, P.O. (2002). Fostering language and literacy in classrooms and homes. Young Children, March, 10 - 18. Howard, 240-255.

Dickinson, D.K. & McCabe, A.. (2001). Bringing it all together: The multiple origins, skills and environmental supports of early literacy. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 16, 4, 186-202.

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