Supporting Struggling Readers: Challenges and Strategies for Educators

Sarah Schwartz is a reporter for Education Week who covers curriculum and instruction.

Tiffany P. Hogan, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, MA and Director of the Speech and Language (SAiL) Literacy Lab. Dr. Hogan has published over 100 papers on the genetic, neurologic, and behavioral links between oral and written language development, with a focus on improving assessment and intervention for children with Developmental Language Disorders, Dyslexia, and/or Speech Sound Disorders. She is co-founder of the DLD informational website: www.dldandme.org, she hosts a podcast, SeeHearSpeak Podcast (www.seehearspeakpodcast.com).

Madeline Will is a reporter for Education Week who covers the teaching profession.

Ann Monroe is the assistant dean, director of assessment, and an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Mississippi. Before her time at UM, Dr. Monroe was a 3rd grade teacher with the Hamilton County School System in Chattanooga, Tenn. She has received multiple honors from the School of Education, including the Outstanding Teacher Award and the Outstanding Student Service Award. She was named the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher for the University of Mississippi in 2018. Dr. Monroe teaches a variety of courses, including education foundations, curriculum development, and assessment. Her research focuses on how teachers can promote pride and minimize shame in their classroom activities and lessons. Dr. Monroe received her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Mississippi. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Schopf is a reading interventionist and literacy coach at T.J. Walker Middle School at Sturgeon Bay School District in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. She is passionate about educating teachers on how to meet the needs of struggling readers in the middle and high school by using evidence-based instruction, supports, and interventions. Schopf has been a public school educator for 33 years and has taught 3^rd, 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th grades with a focus in literacy and foundational reading skills. She earned a master’s of reading degree from University Wisconsin-Oshkosh, a National Board certification in early adolescence English, and a structured literacy dyslexia interventionist certification from the Center for Effective Reading Instruction. Schopf is also a mom of a child with dyslexia and has personally witnessed the social and emotional impact of reading difficulties in both her own child and her students.

Mark Lieberman is a reporter for Education Week who covers school finance.

Stephanie Northway has a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education Emotional Impairment and Elementary Education. She also currently holds a Provisional Teaching Certificate for all subjects, grades K-8, and a TEFL certification, which means she is able to teach English as a Foreign Language. On top of these certificates, Northway is also CPI trained.

Northway has 20+ years experience working with kids of all ages and abilities. Her experience includes being a mom, a babysitter, nanny, caregiver, teacher (grades preschool through 12th grade), tutor, cross country & track coach, teeball coach, Girls on the Run coach, Bible school teacher, summer camp counselor, youth group leader, grief counselor, cub scout leader, counselor, academic advisor/coach, teacher mentor, English teacher for students in China, and daycare worker. Northway has experience teaching in-person and online as well. She enjoys working individually with students to help them grow and succeed, and building positive relationships with students.

Catherine Gewertz was a writer for Education Week who covered national news and features.

Aída Walqui’s career in the field of Second Language Development spans several decades, all levels of education, and multiple countries. She taught at the Catholic University in Lima, at Alisal High School in Salinas, CA for 6 years, at Stanford University, and at the University of CA, Santa Cruz. For the last 22 years she has worked at WestEd, where she started one of its signature programs, the Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) initiative, focused on the development of deep educator expertise to support the rigorous development of English Learners’ conceptual, analytic, literacy and language practices in subject matter areas.

A native Peruvian, Walqui received an MS in Sociolinguistics from Georgetown University, and her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She is the author of many books and articles, including the recent Reconceptualizing the Role of Critical Dialogue in American Classrooms. Promoting equity through dialogic education published by Routledge.

Kimberly Stockton is the senior education advisor of education partnerships at Lexia^® Learning. Her 25 years of educational experience began as an elementary school teacher before becoming a reading intervention specialist focused on implementing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support. She has a rich professional background that includes professional speaking, coaching, training, as well as implementing and designing curriculum. Kimberly holds a master’s degree in curriculum, instruction, and assessment from California State University at Long Beach. She believes in giving all students the gift of literacy.

Alexis Treat is the senior director of literacy curriculum at Lexia^® Learning. She began her career in education as a speech-language pathologist and reading specialist. Alexis holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bowdoin College, as well as a master’s degree in communication sciences from the MGH Institute of Health Professions. At Lexia, Alexis manages the team responsible for designing content, tools, and resources to help educators provide personalized literacy instruction. She is particularly invested in how to connect digital content with face-to-face learning through the development of instructional resources.

Breanna Guzman is an educational content specialist for Emergent Bilingual curriculum at Lexia^® Learning. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education/Spanish; a Master of Science degree in TESOL; and an Advanced Professional Teaching Certificate in grades 1–6 & ESOL pre-K–12. Her professional experience includes teaching Spanish, third grade, first grade, and ESOL, as well as coaching classroom teachers, organizing professional development, and managing ELL programs. Dedicated to education and advocacy for Emergent Bilinguals as a dual-language learner herself, Breanna helped to develop a new product to support the English development of Emergent Bilinguals.

Kristie Shelley, M.Ed., is the senior director of Emergent Bilingual curriculum at Lexia^® Learning. She began her education career in the classroom teaching Emergent Bilingual students. Throughout the past two decades, she has served as an educational consultant, training teachers all over the country, as a co-founder of an educational company that focused solely on Emergent Bilinguals, and now as the content lead for language programs at Lexia Learning. Kristie has dedicated herself to developing products and programs that honor each child’s learning journey.

Meg Van Voorhis currently works as the director of professional learning at Lexia^® Learning. She has spent the past 15 years working in the field of education as a K–5 teacher, curriculum writer, and facilitator and developer of professional learning. She received her B.A. from Princeton University in 2006 and her M.Ed. from the University of Michigan in 2010. Meg lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is passionate about literacy, culturally responsive instructional practices, and supporting educators with meaningful learning opportunities.

Kristen Biadasz works as a senior product marketing manager at Lexia^® Learning. She has spent nearly 15 years in the education technology field, specifically in K–12. Kristen has had the opportunity to work in literacy, mathematics, professional development, and assessment during her career. She enjoys working in an industry that has a direct impact on student learning and supporting educators. Prior to working in edtech, she taught public speaking for three years in higher education.

Ruth A. Kaminski, Ph.D., is the co-author of Acadience^® Reading (previously published as DIBELS Next^®) and the co-founder of Acadience Learning. Dr. Kaminski is also the lead author of the early childhood literacy assessment, Acadience^® Reading Pre-K: PELI^®. Dr. Kaminski’s academic background includes degrees in speech pathology, early childhood special education, and school psychology. She has conducted research on assessment and preventative interventions for preschool and early elementary age children for the past 30 years. Dr. Kaminski has extensive experience consulting with Head Start agencies and public schools throughout the United States and abroad. In addition, Dr. Kaminski brings more than a decade of experience as a classroom teacher and speech/language clinician with preschool-age children.

Pam Austin is a national professional learning manager for Lexia^® Learning Voyager Sopris Learning^® at Cambium Learning^® Group. She offers more than a decade of experience training and supporting districts in literacy and numeracy interventions and has led LETRS^® (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) professional learning sessions. Her goal is to aid teachers in changing the lives of students to help them become proficient and successful in literacy and life-long readers. Pam brings more than 33 years’ experience as an educator, previously working as a literacy specialist at the Center for Development and Learning (CDL) by supporting SRCL school districts. A former educator in New Orleans public schools, Pam worked as an elementary teacher, a reading interventionist for at-risk students, a school-based reading coach, and a field literacy facilitator.