50 Young Children • November 2011 ® 2, 3 VIEWPOINT The high level of acceptance in US society of the preschool years as a critically important time for building early literacy skills has led to a lurry of activity in early childhood research and policy. The National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) report Developing Early Literacy (2008) is just one example of this activity; in the upcoming years it may well affect preschool teach- ing as much as the National Reading Panel report (NRP 2000) affected K–3 literacy instruction, shaping early lit- eracy teaching by promoting speciic practices. The NELP report is part of a larger movement in the past decade to ground educational practice in sci- entiically based research results (Shavelson & Towne 2002). While applauding the movement, we recog- nize that the journey from research to practice requires a critical eye to ensure that teaching practices rec- ommended by researchers do make sense. In this article we examine rec- ommendations for practice emanat- ing from the NELP report and related documents designed to lead educa- tors toward better early literacy class- room practice. We begin by describing the recent inluences on early literacy, including the NELP report and other documents that interpret the report’s indings. We then review the impli- cations of literacy practice for pre- schoolers recommended in the NELP report and in publications that draw on NELP. Our intention is to make clear for practitioners, administrators, policy makers, and those involved in early childhood professional develop- ment which of the instructional rec- ommendations made for early literacy are warranted and which may well create problems for some children’s later reading success if implemented by preschool teachers. Recent inluences on early literacy policy and practice National inluences have been felt increasingly in preschool education over the past decade (for example, multiple national research panels, Common Core State Standards adopted by 44 states), and the Internet has opened the door to Kathleen A. Paciga, Jessica L. Hoffman, and William H. Teale The National Early Literacy Panel and Preschool Literacy Instruction Kathleen A. Paciga, PhD, is an assistant professor of elementary literacy education at Purdue University–Calumet. She started in the ield more than 10 years ago as a kinder- garten teacher. Her research and service focus on early literacy instruction and effective technology integration, with a primary focus on listening comprehension. Jessica L. Hoffman, PhD, is an assistant professor of teacher education at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She has worked with preschool students and teachers through research in two Early Reading First grants, was a teacher in early childhood classrooms, and now teaches preservice and practicing early childhood teachers. hoffmajl@muohio.edu William H. Teale, EdD, is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chi- cago. He studies children’s early language and literacy development, especially children who live in urban environments. wteale@uic.edu. Photos © Ellen B. Senisi. Green Lights, Caution Lights, and Red Lights