Leaving Johnny Behind is a remarkable book about the difference between reality and possibility when it comes to helping at-risk readers. Pedriana, an experienced teacher and administrator, decries the unnecessary casualties of inappropriate literacy instruction. He rightly attributes this state of affairs to the absence of training required of school personnel on the research and practice of effective instruction. He is outraged that in a 30-year career, he never was taught the consensus findings of multiple research endeavors aimed at solving the reading puzzle. Pedriana's enlightenment began after one teacher showed him that most kids could learn to read well if direct, comprehensive methods were used, and he was willing to follow her lead. Subsequently, Pedriana has, on his own initiative, mined the archives of research and assembled an unusually lucid, accurate and hard-hitting plea to do better by the kids who depend on us. He gives "re-form" a new meaning: The assurance that all administrators and teachers will be edu-cated before they educate others in reading and literacy. This is a goal worthy of pursuit.
                                                      -Louisa C. Moats, Ed.D
 Dr. Moats is a noted reading researcher and author of numerous books, articles and professional development programs including her LETRS Training (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). She has served as project director of teacher training for the NICHD Reading Intervention Project in Washington, DC, was a Distinguished Visiting Scholar for the Sacramento County Office of Education and Center for the Improvement of Reading Instruction, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School and Professional Devel-opment Director for the Greenwood Institute in Putney, VT. She has conducted extensive research in the areas of reading, linguistics, spelling development and disorders, and the effects of different interventions on reading and spelling difficulties.

     Pedriana has exposed a raw nerve.  He has taken the educational world to task for its willingness to ignore scientific principles and thus create tragic patterns of school failure that will haunt children throughout their lives. This book is a must read for teachers and those who must prepare them for the harsh realities of the classroom."
      -Dr. Janie Hatton, former high school principal, Nat'l Principal of the Year and Deputy Supt. of Schools

     Leaving Johnny Behind is a gift to anyone who desires to understand why so many of our most vulnerable citizens—our children—struggle to learn to read, and why we, as a country, have let them down.
      —Dr. G. Reid Lyon, former chief of the Child Behavior Branch, National Institute of Child Health and
                    Human Development

     I highly recommend Leaving Johnny Behind for anyone who cares about helping students of all ages learn to read.  It is an excellent review of the unfortunate swing of the pendulum over the years about the importance of using phonics to teach reading.
      -Joan Sedita, Founding Partner, Keys to Literacy

     As an elementary school principal puzzled by the poor results of his school's reading programs, Anthony Pedriana is to be congratulated for taking the time to
investigate carefully the research on beginning reading instruction.   How he proceeded should serve as a model to other elementary school principals and to those who train them.  
     And the conclusions he reached should serve as a call to arms: low-performing schools in this country often perform so poorly because of, not despite, the pedagogical training their reading teachers have received."
         -Sandra Stotsky, 21st Century Chair in Teacher Quality, University of Arkansas


      Mr. Pedriana has written an important book. Refusing to become embroiled in dichotomous debates, he takes the novel approach of drawing extensively from the best evidence available. The result is a magnificent book that advocates for teachers, good research, and—most of all—student learning. I highly recommend this book for anyone concerned about why we in America don’t do a better job educating our children, and what we can do to improve.
      -Dr. Jeff Lucas, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland

      In Leaving Johnny Behind, Mr. Pedriana confronts the issue of how low literacy and academic failure create pathways to violent crime. It is a compelling narrative of a fictional Johnny, but a realistic portrayal nonetheless. This book should be on every teacher’s reading list.
      —Dr. Cecile Guin, Director, Office of Social Service Research and Development, Louisiana State University

     Every parent, school board member and policy maker in America should read this story to understand the incredible challenges of implementing evidence-based reading programs that work in America’s public schools. The only way we can ever hope to close the achievement gap is by encouraging more heroes like Tony Pedriana to keep pushing against the status quo.
           -Jack McCarthy, Managing Director, AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation. Washington, DC

     For the past twenty-five years, I have worked around the country with
students who have struggled in learning to read and with teachers who
have tried to help them. In Leaving Johnny Behind, Mr. Pedriana exposes the educational community’s unwillingness to embrace best practices identified through legitimate science and the tragic consequences of that failure on both children and their teachers.
           -John Alexander, Head of School, Groves Academy, St. Louis Park, MN