Dr. Pat Cunningham is Professor of Elementary Education at Wake Forest University where she teaches undergraduate courses on children’s literature. Prior to teaching at Wake Forest, she taught first and fourth grades and was a reading specialist and director of reading for a county school system. Her particular interest has always been finding alternative ways to teach children for whom learning to read is difficult.
- Professor of Elementary Education
- Ph.D., University of Georgia, 1974
- M.Ed., Florida State University, 1968
- B.A., University of Rhode Island, 1965
- Director of Reading, Alamance County Schools, North Carolina
- Reading Specialist, Indiana State University Laboratory School
- Curriculum Coordinator, Leon County Schools, Florida
- First and Fourth Grade Teacher
- First Year Seminar: What Can be Learned from a Children’s Book
- Patricia M. Cunningham & James W. Cunningham. It Is About Time for Comprehensive Language Arts Instruction (We’ve Tried Everything Else!). In Diane Lapp & Douglas Fisher (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts (4th ed.). New York: Routledge, 2018, 384-409.
- Patricia M. Cunningham. Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing. New York: Harper Collins, l991. 7th Edition published in 2017.
- Patricia M. Cunningham & Richard L. Allington. Classrooms that Work: They Can All Read and Write. New York: Harper Collins, l994. 6th Edition published in 2015.
- Patricia M. Cunningham & James W. Cunningham. Teaching Common Core English Language Arts Standards. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press, 2015
- Patricia M. Cunningham & James W. Cunningham. What Principals Need to Know about Teaching and Learning Reading. Bloomington: Solution Tree Press, 2013.
- The Instructional Supportiveness of Text for Elementary Reading Instruction. Literacy Research Association, Carlsbad, CA, December 2, 2015
- Combating Morphophobia: Teaching Strategies for Decoding, Spelling and Building Meanings for Big Words. International Literacy Association, St. Louis, July 17, 2015.
- When it Comes to Making a Difference, Nothing Beats a Good Theory. International Reading Association National Conference, San Antonio April 22, 2013.
- What Principals Need to Know about Teaching and Learning Reading. National Association Elementary School Principals National Meeting, Baltimore, July 12, 2013.
- A Theory Driven Response to Intervention Approach. National LRA Meeting, Jacksonville, Nov. 30, 2011