This review focuses on areas of converging evidence concerning the importance of phonological awareness and the corresponding curricular and instructional implications for diverse learners. Five areas of converging evidence are identified: (1) phonological processing ability explains significant differences between good and poor readers; (2) phonological awareness (a component of phonological processing) is a unitary construct with multiple dimensions; (3) phonological awareness has a reciprocal and causal relation to reading acquisition; (4) phonological awareness is a necessary but insufficient skill for early reading acquisition; and (5) phonological awareness is teachable and promoted by attention to instructional design variables. The curriculum design principles of conspicuous strategies, mediated scaffolding, strategic integration, primed background knowledge, and judicious review are then discussed in terms of application to developing phonological awareness. The review notes that similar levels of procedural details were not found for each design principle despite strong support for the underlying idea of phonological awareness. (Contains 14 references and 2 figures.) (DB)