Literacy and Reading Recovery experts who will be joining us for the 2013 Literacy for All Conference
Keynote Speakers
Pam Allyn
Pam Allyn is the executive director of LitLife, the renowned organization working to promote literacy achievement by supporting teacher excellence, and the founder and director of LitWorld, an international organization sponsoring global literacy as a human right that belongs to all children. She is also the founder of World Read Aloud Day, now in its third year and reaching hundreds of thousands of children worldwide. Pam is the author of many acclaimed books for educators and families. Her book on the Common Core State Standards, Be Core Ready (2012), was published by Pearson and followed by the series Core Ready Lesson Sets (2013).
Mary Anne Doyle
Mary Anne Doyle is the director of the Reading-Language Arts Center at the University of Connecticut and director of Connecticut's Reading Recovery Project. Mary Anne has served the Reading Recovery Council of North America as president (1999–2000), executive officer (1998–2001), and chair of the Publications Committee (1994–1999). She is a previous editor-in-chief of The Journal of Reading Recovery. She chairs the Executive Board of the International Reading Recovery Trainers' Organization and the Research Committee of the North American Trainers Organization.
Mary Ehrenworth
Mary Ehrenworth, Ed.D., is deputy director at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. She is the co-author and author of many books and articles, including Pathways to the Common Core (2012); The Power of Grammar (2005); Looking to Write (2003); A Quick Guide to Teaching Reading Through Fantasy Novels (2011); and Tackling Complex Texts and Constructing Curriculum from The Units of Studyfor Teaching Reading Series (2010). Mary is a speaker and staff developer in children’s and adolescent literacy in school districts across the nation and internationally.
Featured Speakers
Marc Aronson
Marc Aronson is an author, editor, publisher, and speaker, currently teaching in the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information. He earned his doctorate in American History at New York University and he writes and publishes books, visits schools, and teaches classes to share his love of history with young people.
Paula Bennet
Paula Bennet has been an educator and developmental psychologist for almost 30 years. Training and supporting Reading Recovery professionals is by far the most rewarding job of her career. Her work at New York University involves supporting and training teacher leaders and teachers in New York City and state, New Jersey, Fairfax, Virginia, and southern Pennsylvania.
Rose Cappelli and Lynne Dorfman
Rose Cappelli recently retired as a reading specialist from the West Chester Area School District. She is a fellow of the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project and serves the Project as a teacher consultant. Lynne Dorfman recently retired from the Upper Moreland School District where she taught for more than 30 years in many capacities. She is a co-Director of the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project at West Chester University. Lynne and Rose are the authors of Stenhouse’s Mentor Texts (2007), Nonfiction Mentor Texts (2009), and Poetry Mentor Texts (2012).
Laurie Elish-Piper and Susan L’Allier
Dr. Laurie Elish-Piper is a Presidential Teaching Professor and Literacy Clinic Director in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University, as well as co-director of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language and Literacy. Prior to her current position in higher education, Laurie worked as an elementary and middle school teacher and an educational therapist in a clinical setting. Dr. Susan K. L’Allier is an associate professor in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University, as well as the Coordinator of the Reading Program. Prior to becoming a professor, she worked as an elementary school teacher for eight years, a lead teacher for five years, and a principal for four years. Laurie and Susan's recent research, publications, and presentations have focused on literacy coaching, including articles in The Reading Teacher, Elementary School Journal, and Illinois Reading Council Journal. In addition, Laurie and Susan recently published a video "workshop in a box," The Literacy Coaching Series.
Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell
Irene Fountas directs a comprehensive school reform project at Lesley University. She has been a classroom teacher, language arts specialist, and consultant in school districts across the nation and abroad. She has received numerous awards for her contributions to literacy. Gay Su Pinnell’s work focuses on children’s literacy education and ways to support teachers of reading, writing, and language arts. She has written many articles and received several awards for her work. Irene and Gay have published several books together with Heinemann, including Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency: Thinking, Talking, and Writing About Reading, Grades K–8 (2006); The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades PreK–8, Second Edition: A Guide to Teaching (2010); Literacy Beginnings: A Prekindergarten Handbook (2011); and Genre Study: Teaching With Fiction and Nonfiction Books (2012).
Kathy Ganske
Kathy Ganske, Ph.D. is professor of the Practice of Literacy and director of Graduate Elementary Education at Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. She is the author or co-author of several books on literacy related topics, including Word Journeys: Assessment-Guided Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary Instruction (Guilford Publications, 2000). Kathy’s work is grounded in an extensive background of elementary classroom teaching experience.
Sharan Gibson
Sharan Gibson is a professor in the School of Teachers at San Diego State University. She also directs the Reading Recovery center at SDSU and is a trainer of teacher leaders.
Troy Hicks
Dr. Troy Hicks is an associate English professor at Central Michigan University and focuses his work on the teaching of writing, literacy and technology, and teacher education and professional development. A former middle-school teacher, he collaborates with his colleagues and explores how they implement newer literacies in their classrooms. Troy directs CMU’s Chippewa River Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, and he frequently conducts professional development workshops related to writing and technology. He is the author of the The Digital Writing Workshop (Heinemann, 2009) and a co-author of Because Digital Writing Matters (Jossey-Bass, 2010).
Mary Howard
Dr. Mary Howard is a national literacy consultant and author of three books with Heinemann, including Good to Great Teaching: Focusing on the Literacy Work that Matters (2012) and RTI From All Sides: What Every Teacher Needs to Know (2009). For the past 40 years, she has been a Reading Recovery, Title I, and special education teacher. She presents sessions in all 50 states and continues to work with teachers and students within school settings.
Linda Hoyt
Linda Hoyt has many years of experience as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, Title I teacher, Title I coordinator, staff developer, and curriculum developer. She is a full-time author and consulting teacher supporting staff development in districts across the country. Linda has developed 24 professional books and numerous video programs, including a new Heinemann firsthand series with Tony Stead, Explorations in Nonfiction Writing (2012).
Peter Johnston
Peter Johnston is a professor at the University at Albany, researching the consequences of teaching and assessment practices for the literate lives of children and teachers. His books are Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning (Stenhouse, 2004); Critical Literacy/Critical Teaching: Tools For Preparing Responsive Teachers (Teachers College Press, 2005); RTI in Literacy — Responsive and Comprehensive (IRA, 2010); and Opening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives (Stenhouse, 2012). He is a member of the International Reading Association’s Literacy Research Panel, and in 2005 he was elected to the Reading Hall of Fame.
Eva Konstantellou
Eva Konstantellou is a Reading Recovery Trainer and an associate professor at the Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University. She serves as Teaching Section editor for The Journal of Reading Recovery.
Mary K. Lose
Mary K. Lose, Ed.D., is associate professor in the Department of Reading and Language Arts and director of the Reading Recovery Center of Michigan at Oakland University. Mary is also principal investigator at Oakland University on the Investing in Innovation (i3) federal grant to scale up Reading Recovery in the United States in collaboration with Ohio State University and 19 partner universities. She has published in professional journals including The Elementary School Journal, The Reading Teacher, The Clearinghouse, Principal, Teaching PreK–8, The Journal of Reading Recovery, and Reading Research Quarterly.
Marjorie Martinelli and Kristine Mraz
Marjorie Martinelli and Kristine Mraz are the co-authors of Smarter Charts. Their popular blog Chartchums keeps teachers in touch with ongoing and relevant classroom issues and ways to use charts as a support. Marjorie is a staff developer at the Reading and Writing Project where, for the past eleven years, she has led numerous leadership groups and presented at many national and international educational conferences. Kristine is a former staff developer at the Reading and Writing Project and a current classroom teacher at PS 59 in Manhattan. She has led workshops across the country, as well as internationally. Marjorie and Kristine are working on their second book together.
Emily Rodgers
Emily Rodgers has been a Reading Recovery trainer and professor at The Ohio State University since 1998. Prior to that, she taught remedial reading for 10 years in Newfoundland, Canada. Emily’s research focuses on literacy scaffolding, and she has published several articles and book chapters based on what she has learned about the topic from Reading Recovery teachers.
Mary Rosser
Mary Rosser is the director of the University Training Center for Reading Recovery and coordinator of Literacy Professional Development Programs at The University of Maine. Mary’s areas of expertise are language education, curriculum development, and early literacy intervention. Her research interests focus on analysis of pedagogy, with attention to teacher/student interactions that promote powerful learning.
Judith Schickedanz
Judith A. Schickedanz, Ph.D. (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) is a professor emerita at Boston University, where she taught courses in child development, early literacy, curriculum, and instruction. She also served as director of the laboratory preschool, coordinated the early childhood program, and helped launch the Jumpstart volunteer program. Prior to her time at BU, Judith taught preschool and worked extensively with early-years teachers on funded projects, including Early Reading First. Recent publications include So Much More than the ABCs (NAEYC, 2013); The NELP Report on Shared Story Reading Interventions (Chapter 4): Extending the Story (Educational Researcher, 2010); and For Young Children, Pictures in Storybooks Are Rarely Worth a Thousand Words (The Reading Teacher, 2012).
Robert Schwartz
Dr. Robert Schwartz is a professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. He is a Reading Recovery university trainer and a past president of the Reading Recovery Council of North America. His research interests include self-monitoring in beginning reading, early literacy intervention, research design, and teachers’ professional development.
Terry Thompson
Terry Thompson is an author, teacher, and consultant who trains teachers of readers and writers in grades K–8. Currently a reading interventionist, Terry has served as a classroom teacher, basic skills teacher, Reading Recovery teacher, and literacy coach. He holds a master’s degree in psychotherapy and cognitive coaching and travels throughout the country consulting with classroom teachers and literacy specialists. Terry is the author of Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach Comprehension (Stenhouse, 2008) and is writing his second book Construction Zone: Building Scaffolds that Empower Readers and Writers.
Sponsored Speakers
Wiley Blevins
Wiley Blevins is a Harvard University-trained reading specialist. His books with Scholastic — Phonics From A to Z: A Practical Guide (2006) and Teaching Phonics and Word Study in the Intermediate Grades (2001) — are considered to be foundational texts on phonics instruction. A former elementary school teacher, Wiley has written and edited many books and programs for teaching phonics, and has helped conceptualize highly regarded core reading programs. Wiley’s participation is sponsored by Scholastic, Inc.
Laura Robb
A veteran teacher with 43 years of experience in grades 4–8, Laura Robb is the author of over 20 professional resources for educators on reading, writing, and classroom libraries. Nominated by her peers, she completed a three-year term on the National Council of Teachers of English Commission on Reading. Laura, with other Commission members, published What the Research Really Says about Teaching and Learning to Read (NCTE, 2008). Recently, she started a nonprofit foundation to bring books to high poverty inner city and rural schools. Laura’s participation is sponsored by Scholastic, Inc.
Jennifer Serravallo
A literacy consultant, researcher, and author, Jennifer Serravallo was affiliated with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University for eight years. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Vassar and a master’s degree from Teachers College. She is the author of Independent Reading Assessment: Fiction and Nonfiction (Scholastic 2012 & 2013). Jennifer’s participation is sponsored by Scholastic, Inc.
MaryEllen Vogt
MaryEllen Vogt is distinguished Professor Emerita of Education at California State University, Long Beach. She received her doctorate from the University of California Berkeley and has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, special education specialist, curriculum coordinator, and university teacher educator. She is a co-author of 15 books, including Making Content Comprehensible for English Language Learners: The SIOP Model (2013), Reading Specialists and Literacy Coaches in the Real World (2011), and The SIOP Model for Teaching English Language Arts to English Learners (2010), all with Pearson. She is co-author of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys, a new reading program for grades K–6. MaryEllen’s participation is sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.