We Need Your Voice! : Adolescent Literacy Panel on Elluminate Oct. 19

When: October 19, 2009 10/19/2009 - 1:00pm - 2:00pm-10/19/2009 , US/Pacific (GMT-08:00)* How: Register Here: Time to Act Panel Discussion Cost: Free Experience: PRICELESS!

Mel Riddile - Teacher and principal quality, i.e. Riddile is an advocate and ambassador for teachers and principals. Mel joined the staff of the National Association of Secondary School Principals in July 2008, after a distinguished career as the principal of J. E. B. Stuart High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, and T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Dr. Riddile was the 2006 National High School Principal of the Year and was the 2005 Virginia High School Principal of the Year. His work as a high school principal and as a leader in the field of adolescent literacy has received both national and international recognition from National Geographic Magazine, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the International Baccalaureate of North America. Dr. Riddile is a recognized leader in efforts to reinvent America's high schools Catherine Snow - Literacy Advocate, expert on language and literacy development in children, Catherine has chaired two national panels: the National Academy of Sciences committee that prepared the report "Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children," and the Rand Reading Study Group that prepared "Reading for Understanding: Toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension." Her research activities include a longitudinal study of language and literacy skills among low-income children who have been followed for 15 years since age three; following the language development of young children participating in the Early Head Start intervention; studying the vocabulary development of first- and second-language learners; and considering aspects of transfer from first to second language in the domains of language and literacy. Her book, Preparing Our Teachers: Opportunities for Better Reading Instruction, is one of several efforts she is involved in to develop consensus among teacher-educators about what pre- and in-service elementary teachers need to know about language and literacy. Snow has also written about bilingualism and its relation to language policy issues such as bilingual education in the United States and in developing nations, and about testing policy. She is currently involved in efforts to improve middle-school literacy outcomes, in partnership with other Boston area researchers and the Boston Public Schools. Don Deshler - Special education. Don is the Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Special Education and the director of the Center for Research (CRL) on Learning at the University of Kansas. The research and development (R & D) of the CRL focuses on the validation of academic and social strategies for struggling adolescent and on alternative ways to structure secondary schools to improve academic outcomes. Since its inception in 1978, the CRL has completed in excess of $180 million in contracted R & D. Among the awards Deshler has received are the Gene A. Budig Teaching Professorship in Special Education, the J. E. Wallace Wallin Award from CEC, the Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award, the Higuchi Research Achievement Award, the Distinguished Education Achievement Award from National Center for Learning Disabilities, and the Educator of the Year Award from Learning Disabilities Association. Carnegie Corporation of New York: Time to Act pinpoints adolescent literacy as a cornerstone of the current education reform movement, upon which efforts such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act must be built. The report's recommendations intersect with the $4.35 billion Race to the Top competitive grant guidelines with their emphasis on standards and assessments, data systems, great teachers and leaders, and re-engineering struggling schools.