Featured Speakers
Jennifer Serravallo was a teacher in Title I schools in New York City, and later a senior staff developer at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. She is the author of a dozen books on the teaching of reading and writing, including the new Understanding Texts and Readers and Complete Comprehension, the Writing Strategies Book, and the New York Times bestseller, The Reading Strategies Book. Check out her blog at www.jenniferserravallo.com and tweet her @jserravallo.
Author Jeff Anderson, a former teacher, spends his days writing and sharing strategies from his books Mechanically Inclined, Everyday Editing, 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know, Revision Decisions, and Patterns of Power with teachers across the U.S. His new joy is talking to students about his humorous middle- grade fiction series, Zack Delacruz: Me and My Big Mouth and Zack Delacruz: Just My Luck.
Gravity Goldberg is an educational consultant and author. Specializing in student-centered literacy practices, building independence, and instructional decision making. She was a former staff developer at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and an assistant professor of education at Iona College where she was awarded the Excellence in Teaching honor. Gravity is the author of Mindsets and Moves: Strategies That Help Readers Take Charge (Corwin, 2015) and co-author of the What Do I Teach Readers Tomorrow? series (Corwin, 2017) and Conferring With Readers: Supporting Each Student’s Growth and Independence (Heinemann, 2007).
Renee Houser is co-founder and director of education for upper grades at Growing Educators, a former staff developer and adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, and co-author of the What Do I Teach Readers Tomorrow series of teacher resource books. While teaching at Public School 126 in New York City, Renee worked closely with Lucy Calkins, Shelly Harwayne, and Dan Ling Fu as renegades of innovative instruction. She brought her knowledge from these experiences into the classroom to support her students with diverse learning needs.
Sue Duncan is executive director of the Reading Recovery program in the Early Childhood Department at Georgia State University. Sue taught as a primary teacher and sole-charge principal in a number of different areas and is the only trained facilitator for the First Chance program in the U.S. She has also trained as a university trainer for the Partnerships in Comprehensive Literacy and Comprehensive Intervention Model.
Salli Forbes is director of the Reading Recovery Program of Iowa in the Richard O. Jacobson Center for Comprehensive Literacy, professor of literacy education at The University of Northern Iowa, and a Reading Recovery trainer. She is currently president of the Reading Recovery North American Trainers Group. Her research interests include reading fluency, student engagement and motivation, responsive teaching, and educational change. She is co-editor of the books, Changing Minds, Changing Schools, Changing Systems: A Comprehensive Literacy Design for School Improvement (Hameray, 2015) and Research in Reading Recovery Volume Two (Heinemann, 2004).
Connie Briggs is a Reading Recovery trainer, professor, and chair of the Department of Reading at Texas Woman’s University (TWU). She has 13 years of public school experience and has worked as a reading consultant and professor of reading in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. She continues to teach children to keep current and inform her teaching of undergraduate and graduate students in reading education courses she teaches at TWU.
Lea McGee is professor emerita at The Ohio State University, where she was the Marie Clay Chair of Reading Recovery and Early Literacy. Her research focuses on young children’s literary and literacy development. She is co-author of several books including Literacy’s Beginnings: Teaching Young Readers and Writers (6th ed.), and published chapters and articles in journals such as The Reading Teacher, Language Arts, and Reading Research Quarterly. She currently consults with the Sarasota Reading Recovery program where she works with teachers in their classrooms. She is the recipient of the 2017 ILA Dina Feitelson Research Award.
Preconference & Leadership Institute Speakers
Robert Probst is an author and educator whose focus is helping teachers improve the literacy lives of students, particularly issues around struggling readers. He is the author of Response and Analysis. He is co-author with Kylene Beers of Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading and Notice and Note: Strategies for Reading Nonfiction, and their most-recent book, Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters. He has served as a member at the Conference on English Leadership Board of Directors, a National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) journal columnist, and as a member of the NCTE Commission on Reading.
Kylene Beers is an educator and the author of When Kids Can’t Read/What Teachers Can Do. She is co-author with Robert Probst of Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading and Notice and Note: Strategies for Reading Nonfiction, and their most-recent book, Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters. She has served as president of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and as editor of the NCTE journal, Voices from the Middle. She now serves as a special contributing author to the McDougal Holt Literature book and speaks internationally to administrators and teachers on literacy issues.
Internationally known educator, Tanny McGregor, brings nearly 30 years of professional experience to her workshops. Originally an elementary school teacher, Tanny has served as a literacy coach, gifted intervention specialist, and preK‐12 staff developer. She is the author of two books, Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading and Genre Connections: Lessons to Launch Literary and Nonfiction Texts. She was a contributor to the seminal work, Comprehension Going Forward: Where We Are/What’s Next, and she is currently at work on a new book about visual notetaking. Her creative and engaging style is interjected into her professional development sessions.
Douglas Reeves is the founder of The Leadership and Learning Center. He has worked with education, business, nonprofit, and government organizations throughout the world. The author of more than 20 books and many articles on leadership and organizational effectiveness, he has twice been named to the Harvard University Distinguished Authors Series. Dr. Reeves was named the Brock International Laureate for his contributions to education. He also received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Parents Choice Award for his writing for children and parents. He is the author of Renewal Coaching Fieldbook: How Effective Leaders Sustain, and Elements of Grading: A Guide to Effective Practice, and co-author of On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities Edition One.
Elizabeth Kaye is an assistant professor and Reading Recovery trainer at Texas Woman’s University. She has been involved with Reading Recovery for more than 25 years and has also been a fifth-grade classroom teacher and a special education teacher. She has published several articles about teaching children who struggle with literacy learning, and currently serves as editor of the teaching section of The Journal of Reading Recovery. Her research interests include the development of self-monitoring in reading and writing.
James Schnug is a Reading Recovery trainer with The Ohio State University. He was first trained as a teacher leader in 1987 and retrained as a Reading Recovery teacher in 2010, after serving as a tenured Ashland University faculty member for over 20 years. His recent articles in The Journal of Reading Recovery include Promoting Discovery in Roaming Around the Known and Uncovering What’s Under the White Tape (co-authored with Leslie McBane and Cheri Slinger).
Maryann McBride is a Reading Recovery teacher leader at Clemson University. She has spent 30 years as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, Reading Recovery teacher, and Reading Recovery teacher leader for Prince George’s County Public Schools, the largest urban implementation in the world. Currently, she is responsible for a site of more than 190 Reading Recovery teachers in 120 schools. A frequent presenter at state and national conferences, Maryann is known for her ability to analyze and use data for student, teacher, and program improvement.
Lisa Patrick is a Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative trainer at The Ohio State University. She serves on the U.S. Hans Christian Andersen Award Committee, as well as the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children Committee. An avid reader, Lisa earned her PhD in literature for children and young adults at The Ohio State University. She presents on a range of literacy topics at national and local conferences. An advocate for students’ literacy rights, Lisa can usually be found putting books in the hands of children and teachers.
