UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 21, Page 7
February 22, 1996
Education professor is a top authority on reading

     John J. "Jack" Pikulski, who founded the Reading Success from the
Start program, is a professor of educational development at the
University, where he has been director of the Reading Study Center,
department chairperson and president of the University Faculty Senate.
He assisted in planning the 1992 and 1994 National Assessments of
Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading and serves as a senior author
with Houghton Mifflin.
     He is an internationally recognized leader in the International
Reading Association, a professional organization of almost 100,000
members, and will serve as its president from 1997-1998. In addition,
he has been a reading consultant for numerous school districts,
publishers, journals and research and government agencies, and he has
co-authored, co-edited and written a number of books and trade
journals.
     During the course or his career, Pikulski has made presentations
at more than 900 professional meetings and workshops in all 50 states
and 11 other nations.
     Pikulski founded Reading Success from the Start in 1995, a busy
year that also saw him spending many days lecturing to audiences of
teachers and other educators at places ranging from Boston to
California to Bahrain.
     "As a graduate student, I had such respect for Dr. Pikulski,"
said Andrea Lanciault, who teaches reading at Richey Elementary School
and is part of the Reading Success from the Start pilot team. "His
courses were demanding, yet somehow he inspired us to go the extra
mile. I can honestly say that he was the inspiration behind my
decision to make a career out of teaching young children to read. I am
delighted to have the opportunity to work with him again on a
professional level. I am convinced that we are creating a teaching
model that has great potential for enabling children to become
successful readers."
     The University has been Pikulski's professional home for 26
years. He has been recognized with an outstanding alumnus award from
Temple University, the Farley Distinguished Alumni Award from Wilkes
University, a distinguished teacher educator award from the Diamond
State Reading Association and he has received the Delaware Board of
Education's Award for Excellence. His wife teaches in the Christina
School District, while his daughter attends Franklin & Marshall
College and his son is preparing to attend the University of Delaware
next year.
     Pikulski's current research centers around strategies for
preventing reading problems and instructional strategies for
vocabulary development.
     Dorothy Sheldon, supervisor of curriculum for the Christina
School District, has known Pikulski for 25 years. "Most of what I know
about reading, Jack has taught me," she said. "We've worked together
through the years, becoming involved in various reading issues. He
really has been my teacher."
                                                       -Charlie Walker