Bringing SBRR into the Classroom
About the Presenters
Learn valuable information on the latest reading research and effective strategies that increase student success. This page is updated frequently.
|
 Louisa Moats
Louisa Moats, Ed.D., has been a teacher, psychologist, researcher, graduate school faculty member, and author of many influential scientific journal articles, books, and policy papers on the topics of reading, spelling, language, and teacher preparation. After a first job as a neuropsychology technician, she became a teacher of students with learning disabilities, earning Master’s degree at Peabody College of Vanderbilt. Later, after realizing how little she understood about teaching, she earned a doctorate in Reading and Human Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Louisa spent the next fifteen years in private practice as a licensed psychologist in Vermont, specializing in evaluation and consultation with individuals of all ages and walks of life who experienced reading, writing, and language difficulties. She spent one year as resident expert for the California Reading Initiative; four years as site director of the NICHD Early Interventions Project in Washington, DC, and ten years as research advisor and consultant with Sopris Learning.
Louisa was recently a contributing writer of the Common Core State Standards. In addition to the LETRS professional development series, her publications include Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers (Brookes Publishing); Spelling: Development, Disability, and Instruction (Pro-Ed); Straight Talk About Reading (with Susan Hall, Contemporary Books), and several programs for teaching spelling. |
 Daniel Willingham
Daniel Willingham, Ph.D. is the author of the best-selling Why Don't Students Like School?, which has been translated into ten languages. Daniel earned his B.A. from Duke University in 1983 and his doctorate in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard University in 1990. He is currently professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, where he has taught since 1992. Until 2000, his research focused solely on the brain basis of learning and memory. Today, all of his research concerns the application of cognitive psychology to K-12 education. He writes the “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” column for American Educator magazine, and is an Associate Editor of Mind, Brain, and Education. |
 Maryanne Wolf
Maryanne Wolf is the John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service and Director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University. She received her doctorate from Harvard University. Among her awards for teaching and research are the Distinguished Professor of the Year award from the Massachusetts Psychological Association, the Teaching Excellence Award from the American Psychological Association, the Distinguished Researcher Award from Tufts University, the Norman Geschwind Lecture Award and the Samuel T. Orton Award from the International Dyslexia Association, and the NICHD Shannon Award for Innovative Research, the basis of the RAVE-O reading intervention program, created by Prof. Wolf and members of the Center. Wolf is the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, which is translated into twelve languages and an audio version. Wolf’s research interests include reading interventions, imaging studies of the reading brain, the genetic basis of dyslexia, early prediction, fluency and naming speed, cross-linguistic studies of reading, and the development of a reading tablet in work on global literacy. |
top of Keynote Speakers
|
 Anita Archer
Anita Archer, Ph.D., recipient of ten Outstanding Educator awards, serves as an educational consultant to state departments, county agencies, and school districts on explicit instruction and literacy instruction. She has taught elementary and middle school students and has served on the faculties of San Diego State University, the University of Washington, and the University of Oregon. She is nationally known for her presentations and publications on instructional procedures and literacy instruction and has co-authored numerous curriculum materials with Mary Gleason including REWARDS PLUS, REWARDS Writing and Skills for School Success. Most recently, Anita wrote a textbook on explicit instruction with Charles Hughes entitled Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching (Guilford, 2011). |
 Kate Cain
Kate Cain, BSc, Ph.D. (Sussex University), is a reader in the Department of Psychology at Lancaster University (UK). Her research focuses on the development of language comprehension in children with a particular interest in the cognitive and language difficulties that lead to reading and listening comprehension problems. To date, this work has identified several higher-level skill weaknesses that may be causally linked to poor comprehension, including the ability to generate inferences, knowledge and use of reading strategies, and the ability to construct coherent and integrated narratives. She is a member of the Language and Reading Research Consortium, a collaboration between Arizona State University, Ohio State University, University of Kansas, University Nebraska-Lincoln, and Lancaster University, which is investigating the language bases of reading comprehension from PK to Grade 3 in an IES-funded grant. Kate’s research is published in a range of journals including Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Learning Disabilities, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology and Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. She is the author of Reading Development and Difficulties, published by Wiley-Blackwell in 2010, and takes over as Editor of the journal Scientific Studies of Reading in 2012. |
 Jack Fletcher
Jack M. Fletcher, Ph.D., ABPP (Clinical Neuropsychology), is a Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen distinguished professor of psychology at the University of Houston. For the past 30 years, Jack, a board certified child neuropsychologist, has conducted research on children with learning and attention disorders and brain injury. He directs a Learning Disability Research Center grant and has directed program projects involving neurobiological factors and learning in spina bifida and math disabilities, all funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). He has served on the NICHD National Advisory Council, the Rand Reading Study Group, the National Research Council Committee on Scientific Principles in Education Research, and the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education. Jack was the recipient of the Samuel T. Orton award from the International Dyslexia Association in 2003 and a co-recipient of the Albert J. Harris award from the International Reading Association in 2006. He is the Past President of the International Neuropsychological Society. |
 Michael Fullan
Michael Fullan, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Recognized as a worldwide authority on educational reform, Michael is engaged in training, consulting, and evaluating change projects around the world and his books have been published in many languages. He is currently special advisor to the Premier and Minister of Education in Ontario. His book, Leading in a Culture of Change, was awarded the 2002 Book of the Year Award by the National Staff Development Council and Breakthrough (with Peter Hill and Carmel Crévola) won the 2006 Book of the Year Award from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. His most recent book is Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy (2010). |
 Sam Goldstein
Sam Goldstein, Ph.D., is a psychologist with areas of study in school psychology, child development and neuropsychology. He is an assistant clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah School of Medicine, affiliate research professor of psychology at George Mason University and Dr. Goldstein on staff at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute. Sam is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Attention Disorders. He has authored, co-edited or co-authored numerous books including Raising A Self-Disciplined Child, Understanding and Managing Children’s Classroom Behavior, Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors, and the Handbook of Intelligence and Achievement Testing, and he recently co-authored a new assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorders. He has also authored three dozen book chapters and nearly two dozen peer reviewed scientific studies. Sam has been executive producer for a number of film and training video projects, including the award winning documentary Tough Times/Resilient Kids. He holds Diplomate status in Medical Psychotherapy awarded by the American Board of Medical Psychotherapists, General Psychotherapy awarded by the American Psychotherapy Association, and Disability awarded by the American Board of Professional Disability Consultants. He holds both Fellow and Diplomate status in Forensics awarded by the American Board of Forensic Examiners. He is a Fellow in the National Academy of Neuropsychology. Sam also works in private practice as part of a multi-disciplinary team, providing evaluation, case management and treatment services for children and adults with histories of neurological disease and trauma, learning disability, adjustment difficulties and attention deficit disorder. |
 Jan Hasbrouck
Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D., is an educational consultant, trainer and researcher. She served as the executive consultant to the Washington State Reading Initiative and as an advisor to the Texas Reading Initiative. Jan worked as a reading specialist and literacy coach for 15 years before becoming a professor at the University of Oregon and later Texas A&M University. She has provided educational consulting to individual schools across the United States as well as in Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, and Germany, helping teachers and administrators design and implement effective assessment and instructional programs targeted to help low-performing readers. Her research in areas of reading fluency, reading assessment, coaching, and second language learners has been published in numerous professional books and journals. She is the author and coauthor of several books including The Reading Coach: A How-to Manual for Success, The Reading Coach 2: More Tools and Strategies for Student-Focused Coaches, and Educators as Physicians: Using RtI Data for Effective Decision-Making as well as several assessment tools. In 2008, she and her colleague, Vicki Gibson, partnered to form Gibson Hasbrouck & Associates, with the mission to provide high quality professional development to educators nationally and internationally. |
 Michael Kamil
Michael Kamil, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus in the School of Education at Stanford University. He is the consultant for evaluations for the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development in the U.S. Department of Education. He recently served on the Steering Committee for the United States 2009 administration the Program in International Student Assessment (PISA). Michael was a member of the Feedback Group and the Writing Team for the Common Standards. He was a member of the National Reading Panel, chairing the subgroups on comprehension, technology, and teacher education and synthesizing reading research on language minority students. He chaired the Planning Committee for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Framework. He chaired the panel that produced the IES Practice Guide Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices. In addition, he is a member of the Adolescent Literacy Advisory Board for the Alliance for Excellent Education. Michael has written or edited well over 100 books, chapters, and articles on reading and reading research. He serves as chair of the research panel for the New York State English Language Arts Standards Revision. He is also research advisor for the Louisiana Department of Education Adolescent Literacy Plan and has worked in similar capacities with state departments of education in Oregon and New Jersey. He is a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Center for Development and Learning. |
 Reid Lyon
Reid Lyon, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor of education policy and leadership at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He holds a joint appointment in the School of Brain and Behavior Sciences at the University of Texas, Dallas. From 1992 until 2005, Reid served as Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch (NICHD) within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where he was responsible for the direction, development and management of research programs in developmental and cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, behavioral pediatrics, reading development and disabilities, learning disabilities, early childhood development and school readiness. In 2006, Reid was named one of the most influential people in American education during the last decade by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (Education Week) for his work in ensuring that scientific research occupies a central role in educational practices and policy. He has authored over 130 books and peer reviewed journal articles addressing learning disabilities, reading development and disorders, the preparation of teachers and education leaders, and the neurobiology of learning differences in children. He currently serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of Dyslexia, and is a member of the professional advisory board of the Center for Development and Learning. |
 Robert Pasternack
The Honorable Robert H. Pasternack, Ph.D., served as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U.S. Department of Education from 2001 to 2004. During his tenure, he was responsible for the 2004 Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the implementation of No Child Left Behind. In addition, Robert served on the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education and the President’s Mental Health Commission and as the Chair of the Federal Interagency Coordinating Committee. During his 40-year career in education, he also served as the State Director of Special Education in New Mexico, a Superintendent, a school psychologist and a first grade teacher. He is a nationally certified school psychologist, a certified educational diagnostician, a certified school administrator, a university professor and a certified teacher (K-12). He serves on the advisory board of the National Council on Teacher Quality. He is currently the senior vice president for special education at Cambium Learning Group. |
 Mel Riddile
Mel Riddile is the associate director for High School Services at the National Association of Secondary School Principals. His previous experience includes principal status at T.C. Williams High School, J.E.B. Stuart High School, as well as having been a school administrator since 1974. Mel’s areas of expertise consist of restructuring and reinventing high schools, adolescent literacy, ninth grade transition, school-based central office experience and consulting. While at J.E.B. Stuart High School, he was named the 2006 National High School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and MetLife. At T.C. Williams he was involved with the opening of a new, state-of-the-art facility, implementation of a new secondary literacy initiative, restructuring of programs for second-language learners and wide-spread integration of instructional technology. Mel received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, his M.A. from George Mason University and Ed.D. from George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.
|
top of Distinguished Lecturers
Concurrent Session Presenters |
 Carol Aghayan
Carol Aghayan, M.S., has more than 25 years of experience teaching both young children and early childhood educators at the post secondary level. She currently works as a trainer and mentor. She has worked with early childhood teachers, coaches, and administrators in a wide variety of settings across the country to implement best practices in many areas including curriculum development and pedagogy, inquiry-based learning and studies in the classroom, and relationship-based care. She is the co-author of Easy Songs for Smooth Transitions in the Classroom, which combines a love of music with songs and transition tips for guiding children through difficult changes in the day. She is the co-author of The Coach's Guide: A Step-By-Step Resource for Individualizing Professional Development that focuses on supporting coaches and mentors as they help teachers implement the Creative Curriculum for Preschool. She is also a co-author of the Teaching Guides in the newly published Teaching Strategies System for PreK and sole creator of Teaching Strategies Mighty Minutes, a tool to help teachers make the most of every minute in the preschool classroom.
 Carla Amy
Carla Amy, M.Ed., is an Education Program Consultant at the Louisiana Department of Education. She is primarily responsible for the administration of the state’s Early Childhood programs. Carla’s background includes 25 years of service in education in two states and working with children and their families from birth to middle school. A big part of Carla’s career has been spent working with children of poverty and children with behavioral/emotional disorders. She has worked for the Louisiana Department of Education for the past 14 years as Childnet/Special Education Coordinator, Literacy Coordinator, and presently, as a Early Childhood/SPED/Literacy Coordinator.
 Pamela Austin
Pamela Austin is currently a product consultant for Cambium Learning- Voyager, working with districts to implement research-based curricula developed for “at-risk” students. An educator with 23 years of experience, Pam has worked in the New Orleans Public School system in a variety of capacities: elementary teacher, reading interventionist, reading coach, field literacy facilitator and as a certified regional LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) trainer. Pam has had the pleasure of applying and then passing on the knowledge of scientific-based reading researched based strategies through training and coaching teachers in a variety of literacy curricula. In her spare time, she also authors novels under a pen name.
 Kathy Barclay
Kathy Barclay, Ph.D., is a professor and former department chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Western Illinois University where she has taught early childhood and reading courses for the past twenty-six years. She works closely with the Illinois State Board of Education and was project director for the Illinois Reading First Professional Development academies. Kathy is the editor for the Illinois Reading Council Journal, and has co-authored three books and over seventy-five articles in professional journals, including a regular column on emergent literacy in Children and Families, the former journal of the National Head Start Association.
 Natalie Beach
Natalie Beach, M.A., is a special educator, teacher trainer, and university instructor. She began her career in the general education classroom and then transitioned to working with children with special needs. She uses this experience to bring teachers the best practices for teaching children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Natalie also works provided teachers with strategies for the integration of technology within the special education classroom. In addition, Natalie provides training to pre-service teachers at Tennessee Technological University. Her work with this group focuses on working with communities and families to make each child's school experience successful. Natalie strongly believes in the teaching of the whole child and encouraging individual success for each child.
 Penny Black
Penny Black, M.Ed., is an Education Program Consultant at the Louisiana Department of Education. She is primarily responsible for the administration of the state’s Early Childhood programs. Penny has 25 years of service in the education community. Working with children of poverty for 15 years, she served in the capacity of teacher-librarian, self-contained special education teacher and resource teacher. She has worked for the LA Department of Education in the areas of Title II Professional Development, Section Administrator for Reading and Literacy statewide and, presently, as a Early Childhood/SPED/Literacy Coordinator. Penny also teaches a Reading course at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as an adjunct instructor.
 Doug Blancero
Doug Blancero has worked with community groups, national organizations and schools for the last 30 years in both leadership and advisory roles helping these groups discover their vision and make it come alive. He and his team are currently working with the East St. Louis School District in establishing a leadership development project focusing on identification of leaders and strategies to improve student performance. In addition, in conjunction with others, Doug conducts The JP Leadership Academy each year at the JP Institute for Excellence in Education. Before working at JP Associates in his current role as vice president of development and operations, Doug was the executive director of a Brooklyn-based, award winning youth organization that worked with at risk youth. During his 15 year tenure he grew the program from a recreational project into a comprehensive community center that sponsored an alternative high school program and GED Project, as well as court advocacy, school advocacy; career awareness and job placement; crisis intervention and referral; street outreach; and peer and family mediation projects. Doug has been a presenter at a number of regional and national conferences on leadership strategies, conflict resolution, organization, youth empowerment and grant writing. A strong believer in team building, networking and partnerships Doug has served on a variety of national, state and local boards and tasks forces addressing community, youth and education.
 Virginia Buysse
Virginia Buysse, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at the FPG Child Development Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She directs a program of research on Recognition & Response (R&R), a model of Response to Intervention (RTI) for pre-kindergarten programs. She is co-chair of a committee that is leading an effort to develop and validate a joint position statement on RTI in early childhood, sponsored by three leading early childhood professional organizations: the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the National Head Start Association. Virginia is Co-PI of the Center on Early Care and Education Research for Dual Language Learners, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. She is also Co-PI on the National Professional Development Center on Inclusion and Co-PI on CONNECT (National Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge). She is a past president of the Division of Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and serves on the technical work group for the Evidence-Based Practice initiative within CEC. Virginia serves on the editorial boards of leading journals in early childhood and early intervention. She has authored or co-authored numerous in peer-refereed journals as well as several books on evidence-based practice, program quality, consultation and coaching, and a forthcoming edited handbook on RTI in early childhood.
 Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan
Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, Ph.D., is a Bilingual Speech Language Pathologist and a Certified Academic Language Therapist. She is the director of Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville, Texas and works with Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics at the University of Houston. Elsa is the author of Esperanza (HOPE), a Spanish language program designed to assist students who struggle with learning to read. Her research interests include the development of early reading assessments for Spanish speaking students and the development of reading interventions for bilingual students. She was the co-principal investigator of a longitudinal study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Institute for Education Science that examined the oracy and literacy development in English and Spanish of Spanish speaking children. She serves as a board member for the International Dyslexia Association and the Regional Educational Laboratory of the Southwest Region. She has authored curricular programs, book chapters, and journal articles related to oracy and literacy development for English language learners.
 David Clemons
David Clemmons grew up in South Carolina during the 1950s. He did not learn to read in school and dropped out of school when he was 16. David wanted to learn to read more than anything, but was hesitant to share his secret with anyone. He developed a successful carpet-laying business, although he could not read the word carpet. At the age of 47, David hurt his knee and could no longer lay carpet. He needed to learn how to read in order to complete a job application, so he tried several literacy organizations before his career counselor recommended the Washington Literacy Council. The Council told him that they would teach him to read, and they did. He now reads so much that he occasionally misses his metro stop because he is immersed in a book. David works at the Washington Literacy Council in Washington, D.C., as the Student Support coordinator. He speaks nationally about literacy and the importance of teaching all students how to read so that they won't drop out of school.
 Mary Dahlgren
Mary Ellis Dahlgren, Ed. D., is president of MED Consulting and Tools 4 Reading. She has over twenty years of experience teaching children and training teachers. Mary has worked as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, professional development provider and consultant to numerous school districts, the Bureau of Indian Education Schools, several state departments of education, and the Virgin Islands. She is a National LETRS trainer and also teaches programs nationally for Neuhaus Education Center. She is the former executive director of Payne Education Center, a nonprofit teacher training center in Oklahoma. The Center was established to provide teacher training for teachers of dyslexic students and to support for parents of dyslexic children. Mary is a founding board member of a school for adjudicated youth, SeeWorth Academy, organized by the late Chief Justice Alma Wilson. Justice Wilson named the school SeeWorth in hopes the children would "see the worth" in education and the future. Mary's passion is to help everyone involved in reading instruction to feel equipped and confident in providing the highest quality instruction possible.
 Emerson Dickman
Emerson Dickman, J.D., Emerson’s legal practice has specialized in advocating for individuals with disabilities for over 35 years. Among the cases he has handled are leading precedents (New Jersey Supreme Court) protecting the due process rights of pupils in special education (Lascari) and the constitutional rights of adults with developmental disabilities (J.E.). Emerson is past president of the International Dyslexia Association. He is a member of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities and a member of CDL’s Professional Advisory Board. He served as a member of the Professional Advisory Board for the National Center for Learning Disabilities, as a member of the Learning Disabilities Roundtable sponsored by the Division of Research to Practice of the U. S. Department of Education, and as chairman of the Protection and Advocacy Agency for the State of New Jersey for five years. In 1994 and again in 2002 he served as Chair of scientific consensus meetings sponsored by the National Center of Child Health and Human Development of the NIH resulting in the research definition of Dyslexia used in research throughout the United States. In 2004 Emerson organized an invitational forum attended by 33 organizations to address the issue of RtI and Building Capacity to Deliver Multi-Tiered Reading Intervention in Public Schools. He has been an invited speaker at conferences in 23 states, Hong Kong, England, Brazil, India, and the Czech Republic.
 Judi Dodson
Judi Dodson, M.A., consults with schools, state departments of education, and school districts on issues related to school change, teacher knowledge, and literacy achievement. She speaks at conferences and gives workshops on topics related to reading intervention and activities that support increasing student achievement, and is a National LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) trainer. Judi believes that working to empower teachers with knowledge about literacy can make a real difference in their work and help them change and enrich the lives of the children they teach. Judi worked for 20 years as a special education teacher, working primarily with children with reading problems and, as an educational consultant, conducting diagnostic assessment of learning disabilities. She is the author of Fifty Nifty Activities: Five Components and Three Tiers of Instruction, and is currently writing a curriculum of activities that will enhance oral language skills. Her second book has just been published by Sopris West titled 50 Nifty Activities for Speaking and Listening: for Oral Language and Comprehension. It is a book of active and engaging oral language activities designed for classroom teachers. Judi is on the board of the Rocky Mountain Branch of the International Dyslexia Association.
 Adrienne Dowden
Adrienne S. Dowden, M.Ed., is a reading specialist who has worked at both the national and local levels to help schools and districts increase their knowledge of effective reading instruction and practices that improve students’ reading ability. Previously, for over 24 years, Adrienne worked as a special education teacher and elementary teacher, and as a reading specialist for New Orleans Public Schools. As a reading coordinator for the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), she coordinated the AFT Reading Project in New Orleans Public Schools. She served as an Educational Program Consultant 3 for the Louisiana Department of Education. She was the project manager and senior reading specialist for the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) on the USDOE - Expanding The Reach project I. She is president of the ASD Educational Consulting Group and is currently an associate for GHA.
 Susan Ebbers
Susan M. Ebbers is an author, researcher and educational consultant who specializes in vocabulary development. Susan has been a K-8 teacher and principal in public and private schools in California and Alabama. She taught primary grades and also intensive reading in middle school and was awarded outstanding middle school teacher and A+ Literacy Leader. She is a national literacy consultant and author of Daily Oral Vocabulary Exercises: A Program to Expand Academic Language in Grades 4-12 (with coauthor Jill Carroll); Vocabulary Through Morphemes: Suffixes, Prefixes, and Roots for Intermediate Grades; and two sequential decodable series that promote vocabulary, morphology, and comprehension—Power Readers and Supercharged Readers. Susan is a doctoral candidate at University of California – Berkeley in cognition and development, specializing in morphological awareness and vocabulary, measurement design and interpretation, and interest theory.
 Linda Farrell
Linda Farrell is a founding partner at Readsters, where she is immersed in the world of beginning and struggling readers. Linda designs and presents workshops, writes books, and develops instructional materials for effective reading instruction. She has coauthored several publications, including Phonics Blitz, Phonics Boost, the Diagnostic Decoding Surveys, Teaching Reading Essentials Program Guide and Coach’s Guide (coauthored with Louisa Moats), and DIBELS: the Practical Manual. Linda was also a National LETRS Trainer for seven years. Linda has been presenting workshops and giving speeches on reading instruction throughout the country since 2000. She taught junior high English and was a high school and elementary school counselor. However, it was only when Linda volunteered to teach adults to read that she understood older struggling readers’ needs for explicit phonics and phonemic awareness instruction at the most basic levels. Linda keeps her skills fresh and innovative by working one-on-one with struggling readers of all ages whenever she has time.
 Janie Feinberg
Janie Feinberg, president and founder of JP Associates, is passionate in her commitment to the literacy of ALL students. Janie attended the Connecticut College for Women and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1968. She began her career in education as a New York City Public School teacher in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Over the next 44 years Janie worked as a classroom teacher, a teacher trainer, a consultant and eventually started her own consulting company. Her strong personal belief and philosophy, based on her personal experience as a teacher and consultant, that ALL CHILDREN CAN LEARN permeates all aspects of both her personal and professional life. She has spoken and trained on various topics of education and instruction across the country including reading instruction, school improvement, coaching and the obligation we all have as educators, to honor the rights of children to learn. Janie has designed and written teacher training programs for several instructional programs and is currently writing a book she describes as a practical guide to coaching and professional development —the why and the how.
 Vicki Gibson
Vicki Gibson, Ph.D., is a national educational consultant, author, teacher trainer and speaker. She has been teaching children and adults since 1975. Her areas of specialization include assessing learner’s needs, planning instruction, curriculum development, instructional methodology, and classroom management and discipline. Vicki was a kindergarten teacher and learning disability specialist in public schools for 10 years before opening four private schools for children ages 2–12 years. Vicki earned three degrees, including her doctorate, from Texas A&M University, where she served as a Lecturer and Adjunct Professor for 10 years. She is the author of We Can!, I Can Draw, Letter, Sounds, and Strokes, a phonics program; co-author of Treasures, a reading program; Differentiated Instruction: Grouping for Success, a supplemental college textbook; and Differentiated Instruction: Guidelines for Implementation for presenters of professional development. She continues to write training manuals, administrator guides and booklets to support professional development and help educators change practices in schools. Vicki is the Chairman/President of Gibson Hasbrouck & Associates, an educational consulting group.
 Nancy Hennessy
Nancy Hennessy, M.Ed., LDT-C, educational consultant and past president of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), is an experienced teacher, diagnostician, and administrator. While in public schools, she provided leadership in the development of innovative programming for special needs student, a statewide revision of special education code and an award winning professional development initiative. She has delivered keynote addresses, workshops and training to educators nationally and internationally. Her publications include articles and chapters on a range of topics including the dyslexic experience, a model high school program for dyslexic students and mentoring. She recently co-authored Module 6 of LETRS, Digging for Meaning: Teaching Text Comprehension (2nd edition) with Louisa Moats and the chapter on Word Learning and Vocabulary Instruction, in Multisensory Teaching of Basic Skills (3rd edition). She is a national trainer for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) and an adjunct instructor with Fairleigh Dickinson University. Nancy was recently inducted as an honorary member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society and is the 2011 recipient of IDA’s Margaret Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award.
 Cate Heroman
Cate Heroman, M.Ed., is vice president of curriculum and assessment at Teaching Strategies, Inc. of Washington, DC and has worked in the field of education for over 35 years. She has been a preschool and kindergarten teacher as well as an early childhood and elementary administrator at the Louisiana Department of Education, providing leadership, training, technical assistance and support in the areas of early childhood and elementary education. Cate is a co-author of many publications, including the Literacy: The Creative Curriculum® Approach; Teaching Strategies GOLD® Assessment System; The Creative Curriculum® System for Preschool; The Coach’s Guide; Helping Children Rebound: Strategies for Preschool Teachers After the 2005 Hurricanes; Building Your Baby’s Brain.
 Debbie Hunsaker
Debbie Hunsaker, M.Ed., is the Instructional Innovations Unit Director for the Montana Office of Public Instruction, which is responsible for implementing Reading First, Early Reading First, School Improvement, and the Montana Striving Readers Project. Before being employed by the state of Montana, Debbie taught first, third, fourth, and fifth grades. She received her undergraduate degree from Southern Utah University where she minored in reading and language arts. She holds a master's degree in literacy and curriculum with an emphasis in diversity. Debbie also provides consulting services across the nation in the areas of literacy, assessment, leadership, and coaching.
 Michael Hunter
Michael Hunter is a founding partner of Readsters. Michael found his passion for teaching struggling readers by volunteering to teach adults to read in Washington DC. Methods traditionally used in adult education did not work, so he looked for other programs. He was fortunate to meet Dr. Louisa Moats, who steered him toward explicit, structured, systematic instruction that was immediately effective. In 2001, Michael left his job as president of a concrete construction company to pursue a career helping students learn to read using the most effective methods available. Michael is co-author of Phonics Blitz and Phonics Boost lessons and the Diagnostic Decoding Surveys. Michael presents professional development workshops nationally and advises schools and districts on implementation of effective reading instruction. He also continues to create assessments, lessons and other materials to help beginning and struggling readers. He enjoys working with struggling readers of all ages whenever he finds time.
 Jill Jackson
Jill Jackson uses her humor and in-the-trenches experiences to support educators as they navigate the central issues in reading program implementation and increasing student reading scores. A former classroom teacher, whether she’s in the classroom demonstrating lessons, strategizing with the superintendent or training veteran literacy coaches, Jill’s advice and assistance is deeply rooted in the reality of school life and focused on unambiguous next steps. Jill has worked in 30+ states and with thousands of teachers, coaches, administrators, program directors and superintendents throughout her ten years as a consultant and is known for her ability to make school reform a bit fun and a lot successful.
 Sandra Johnson
Sandra grew up in Washington, DC and attended public schools until she dropped out of school at age 16. Sandra could memorize words quite successfully, but could not read any unfamiliar words. For example, she could easily read the word “job”, but had no idea what the word “jab” was or how to read it. She was in her early 30’s when she learned that letters match sounds, which was the key to Sandra’s learning to read. Sandra hid her reading disability from everyone, including her large family and friends. But her secret was out when Laura Bush asked to meet her because she had learned to read as an adult, and pictures of Sandra and the president and first lady were on the front page of the Washington Times! Sandra was a volunteer coach for children with D.C. Recreation Centers for 24 years. She worked as a housekeeper at a hospital for 21 years, afraid to apply for the job she wanted at the recreation centers because of her reading difficulties. She recently left the hospital to take a job at the Dean Wood Recreation Center where she now gets paid to do what she loves. Sandra speaks nationally about literacy, inspiring many teachers with her story.
 Stevan Kukic
Stevan Kukic, Ph.D., is vice president of Strategic Sales Initiatives for Cambium Learning Group, specializing in reaching the tough to teach with proven and practical interventions, technology, and services, and consultation. He is the past chair of the professional advisory board for the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) and currently serves on NCLD’s Board of Directors and as chair of NCLD’s Public Policy committee. He is a past president of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. Steve worked for two years as an independent consultant, primarily with Franklin Covey Company’s Education Division, facilitating the use of principles based on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People with individuals and organizations. Before that, he was director for At Risk and Special Education for the Utah State Office of Education for 11 years, providing leadership for state and federal programs for these children and youth in need. For five years prior to his state position, he directed a statewide center for technical assistance related to the education of students with disabilities. Steve is the author of over 100 articles, chapters, newspaper columns, and books. Steve is proud to have consulted in all 50 states, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. Steve earned his doctorate from the University of Utah in School Administration and his M.A. in School Psychology and B.A. in Psychology from UCLA.
 Kerry Laster
Kerry Laster, Ph.D., is the Deputy Superintendent of Literacy for Birth-12 at the Louisiana Department of Education. She has worked as a teacher (birth through adult), curriculum coordinator, principal, and superintendent. She has received numerous awards both personally and for her school/district. Kerry was selected as the Louisiana Principal of the Year, the LA Reading Association’s Principal of the Year, a Fulbright Scholar, the Louisiana PTA Educator of Distinction, the Delta Kappa Gamma Hall of Fame Award, and the Paul H. Fouquier Educational Leadership Award given by the Louisiana Association of School Executives. Under her leadership, Shreve Island Elementary became the first Year Round School in Louisiana and received the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award. Kerry is the author of several articles and has spoken at the district, state, national, and international levels.
 Nancy Manuel
Nancy Manuel, Ph.D., is the coordinator of best practices at the Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is primarily responsible for research and evaluation of best practices in literacy implementation, as well as technical assistance in leveraging data to provide differentiated instruction and effective intervention. Most recently, she has assisted in the implementation and evaluation of the Reading First program, K-12 Literacy Pilot, Ensuring Literacy for All (ELFA) initiative, Schools of Choice program, and the Beginning with Babies pilot program. Nancy’s career includes more than 30 years of experience at the district and local school levels in developing and implementing various literacy programs, as well as securing grants for the establishment of early childhood and elementary services. She has also been involved at the university level at the Picard Center for the past seven years.
 Lucy Hart Paulson
Lucy Hart Paulson, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, is a speech and language pathologist and literacy specialist with years of experience working with young children and their families in public school, Head Start, private, and university settings. Currently, she is on the faculty of the Communicative Sciences and Disorders Department at The University of Montana sharing responsibilities for teaching, supervising, research, and service. Lucy presents a unique and broad-based perspective blending areas of language and literacy together resulting in effective and engaging language-based literacy interventions for children. She has provided professional development for a variety of audiences across the United States and internationally. Lucy is the lead author of the Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) for Early Childhood Educators, Building Early Literacy and Language Skills, a resource and activity guide for young children, and also for Good Talking Words, a social communication skills program for preschool and kindergarten.
 Ellen Peisner-Feinberg
Ellen Peisner-Feinberg, Ph.D., (PI) is a Senior Scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has conducted numerous statewide and national research studies focused on the quality of early care and education programs and the effects on children, especially dual language learners and children at risk. She currently directs a program of research on Recognition & Response (R&R), a model of Response to Intervention (RTI) for pre-kindergarten programs. She has conducted several statewide evaluations of pre-k programs, currently including studies of North Carolina’s Prekindergarten Program (over 10 years) and the Georgia Universal Pre-k Program. She also is Co-PI on the Center for Early Care and Education Research for Dual Language Learners. In addition, she serves as a national expert for the DEC/HAEYC/NHSA joint position statement on RTI in early childhood. Past efforts have included co-Director of the North Carolina Head Start Quality Research Center, part of a national research consortium that studied quality issues in Head Start; and one of the PIs on the Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers Project (CQO), one of the most well-known large-scale studies of center-based child care, children’s development and school success from the preschool years through the end of elementary school. She has authored over 60 publications, including editing a forthcoming handbook on RTI in early childhood and another on educating diverse learners.
 Libbie Sonnier-Netto
Libbie Sonnier-Netto, M.Ed., is currently an Early Childhood Project Director for the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in New Orleans. Previously, she served as a primary service provider to children and their families’ birth to age three, a hospital early interventionist, a model assessment team founder and member, Mississippi’s First Steps Early Intervention State Training Coordinator, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Director for the state of Mississippi, and an Early Childhood Special Education Coordinator for the Louisiana State Department of Education. Libbie’s passion for young children and their families is what drives her do more in the field of early childhood and special education. She earned her Master of Education in Early Childhood Intervention and Family Support from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Bachelor of Science in Special Education with an emphasis in early intervention from the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg.
 Laura Stewart
Laura Stewart has been in education for more than 25 years, working as a classroom teacher, building and district administrator, adjunct professor, and director of numerous professional development initiatives. In addition to directing the professional development for Reading First in the state of Wisconsin, Laura directed long-term projects in Los Angeles, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and El Paso on topics from pre-K literacy to differentiated instruction. She has completed extensive postgraduate coursework in literacy education and is a LETRS-certified trainer. Laura has presented on the topic of literacy throughout the United States and internationally, and is the author of 12 children’s books, numerous teacher’s guides, and dozens of training workshops. She is currently the vice president of professional development the Rowland Reading Foundation, a nonprofit foundation devoted to improving primary literacy.
 Omar Tabb
Omar Tabb., M.A., is a school improvement specialist at JP Associates, Inc. He is a committed lifelong educator who began his educational career teaching first grade. He subsequently taught in second, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades before moving into a leadership role. Omar specializes in leadership training and teaching intensive, explicit instructional programs. He has proven abilities in project management, classroom instruction, meeting academic benchmarks, curriculum management and supervision, providing professional development, and meeting client needs. He is learner-focused with strong relationship building and problem-solving skills. He has led multiple leadership projects, and successfully managed a difficult leadership program where massive turnover required him to quickly incorporate new principals into the cohort structure, while keeping all stakeholders informed. While in the classroom, Omar specialized in teaching intensive, explicit instructional programs. Because of his experiences both in the classroom and as an administrator, he has a practical perspective on how to support instruction, manage data, build teams and empower staff. Omar is currently studying for his doctorate in educational leadership.
 Alice Thomas
Alice Thomas, M.Ed., is the founder, president and CEO of the Center for Development and Learning. A career educator for 30+ years, Alice has been a teacher (grades 7-12), a counselor, and an intervention specialist in inner city, suburban and rural public schools; and has served as a co-instructor for graduate level courses. She has delivered hundreds of seminars on learning and teaching to public, parochial and private school administrators, teachers and parents, both nationally and internationally, and has presented at national and international conferences. She is the coauthor of the Learning Profiles: Differentiated Instruction for Diverse Learners professional development program and Right from Birth parent training curriculum, and author or coauthor of numerous articles on teaching and learning. Alice recently studied change leadership at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
 Carol Tolman
Carol Tolman, Ed.D., is a national reading consultant at the state, district, and school levels. As a special educator with over 25 years of public school experience, she spent 12 of those years designing and implementing an innovative, exemplary program for academically challenged high school students. Carol currently presents LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) in states as diverse as Wyoming, West Virginia, Texas, Louisiana, and Vermont and is the author of the LETRS Presenter's Kit. Carol is also the author of Working Smarter, Not Harder, an article published in International Dyslexia Association’s Perspectives. Most recently, Carol created and produced an on-line literacy course for the state department of Maryland. She earned her doctorate in educational psychology from American International College.
 Joseph Torgesen
Joseph Torgesen, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology and Education, Emeritus, at Florida State University. He is also the Director Emeritus of the Florida Center for Reading Research. He conducted research with children who have learning problems for over 30 years, and was part of the effort supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to learn more about the nature of reading disabilities and ways to prevent and remediate reading problems in children for 15 years. He is the author of approximately 190 articles, book chapters, books, and tests related to reading and learning disabilities. His research interests have included reading development, reading disabilities and intervention, and assessment. Joe is nationally known for research on both the prevention and remediation of reading difficulties in young children as well as work on assessment of phonological awareness and reading. He served on six professional editorial boards and has received numerous awards including the Samuel A. Kirk Award for exemplary research publications from the Division of Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children.
 David Whiting
David Whiting is currently serving as vice president for development with Classical Learning Universe at JP Associates. He has spent over 40 years in the field of education in a variety of different roles and positions. His first job was at Wrentham State School in Massachusetts. During his tenure there, he worked with institutionalized, low ability people. His next position was teaching elementary school in Wayland and Scituate, MA. He has also been a reading specialist in the Educational Development Project in the Atlanta Public School System. David joined the McGraw-Hill Publishing Company as a language arts consultant where he was responsible for the design and delivery of professional development services. Over the years, he held a wide variety of educational publishing positions in five different divisions. and is working with Putnam County schools in Tennessee to translate their internal program for teaching children with autism into a training and coaching program for universal use.
 Anne Whitney
Anne Whitney, Ed.D., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and special educator and a member of the clinical and teaching faculties at the University of Colorado’s Boulder campus where she is the coordinator of Speech Language Services. She is president and owner of Spectrum Educational Consulting Services, Inc. Anne has extensive clinical and teaching expertise in language learning disabilities in children, adolescents, and adults, with particular expertise in dyslexia and reading disabilities. She has taught numerous university courses and has clinically trained graduate students in methods for assessment and intervention of children and adults with dyslexia and other language learning disabilities. She has worked in a public school setting, teaching in regular middle school classrooms and in special education classes with an emphasis on language learning disabilities and literacy. Anne is a certified national trainer for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), and for the LANGUAGE ! curriculum, and she is a frequent presenter at local, state, and national conferences. She is co-author of Teaching Reading Essentials: The Coach's Guide, SPELL-Links to Reading and Writing: A Word Study Curriculum, Games & Activities for Readers and Spellers, and the Instructional Resources Guide for Teachers. |
top of Concurrent Session Presenters |
Plain Talk About Reading Institute
