Dr. David Koppenhaver, professor of reading in the Department of Reading Education and Special Education in Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education (RCOE), has published a book with co-author Dr. Karen Erickson, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, entitled Comprehensive Literacy for All: Teaching Students with Significant Disabilities to Read and Write. Released in December 2019, the text is a resource for educators, speech-language pathologists, and parents.
“I had the good fortune in graduate school to meet David Yoder, a speech-language pathologist who had helped create the field of augmentative and alternative communication,” said Koppenhaver. “He convinced me to collaborate with him in exploring the question of why people who couldn’t speak also found it difficult to learn to read.”
“Some of our earliest work explored students who beat the odds and teachers who helped them,” he continued. “That introduced me to Karen Erickson, an exceptional teacher, thinker, and problem-solver. This book represents our most current thinking about how to successfully teach a wide variety of students with significant difficulties to read, write, and communicate.”
Brookes Publishing provides the following description about the text: “Literacy improves lives—and with the right instruction and supports, all students can learn to read and write. That's the core belief behind this teacher-friendly handbook, your practical guide to providing comprehensive, high-quality literacy instruction to students with significant disabilities. Drawing on decades of classroom experience, the authors present their own innovative model for teaching students with a wide range of significant disabilities to read and write print in grades preK–12 and beyond. Foundational teaching principles blend with concrete strategies, step-by-step guidance, and specific activities, making this book a complete blueprint for helping students acquire critical literacy skills they'll use inside and outside the classroom.”
About Dr. David Koppenhaver
Koppenhaver joined the Appalachian faculty in 2004. He earned a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in 1991 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He holds North Carolina teaching certification in Reading K-12, Middle Grades Language Arts (Grades 6-9), Intermediate (Grades 4-6), and Elementary Education (Grades K-6). His research focuses on literacy in children with significant disabilities including autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, complex communication needs, and multiple disabilities.
In 1998 Koppenhaver co-founded the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at UNC, and in 2002 was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Queensland in Australia. His current research projects include a study of early communication and literacy learning in students with significant intellectual disabilities and a study with Appalachian State students Sydney Shadrick, Tonya Moore, and Bronwyn Harris of the reading abilities of students with Williams syndrome. He was recently inducted in Appalachian’s Academy of Outstanding Graduate Mentors (2016) and received Appalachian’s 2016-2017 100 Scholars Award for exemplary research activity.
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