Register soon for the International Reading Association 59th Annual Conference to experience professional learning at its best. IRA 2014 offers a multitalented expert lineup of speakers, researchers and authors, that are sure to engage attendees and transform lives.
Richard Allington
An annual favorite speaker, Allington has obtained recognition for his contributions to understanding reading and learning disabilities. He is a professor at the University of Tennessee and a past president of the International Reading Association and the Literacy Research Association. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Reading Research Quarterly, the Journal of Educational Psychology, Remedial and Special Education, and the Elementary School Journal. Allington has received the IRA William S. Gray Citation of Merit for his contributions and has been named to the Reading Hall of Fame. He also wrote and edited many books, including Summer Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Reading Achievement Gap co-edited by Anne McGill-Franzen.
Gail Boushey & Joan Moser (The 2 Sisters)
Combining their knowledge, these sisters have experience in grades K–6, Special Education, and Literacy Coaching. Their books, The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades and The Café Book–Engaging all Students in Daily Literacy Assessment and Instruction, are renown to teachers around the world. In addition, they participate in conferences around the nation, and provide timely professional development through their DVDs and extensive website www.thedailycafe.com.
Timothy Rasinski
Rasinski’s expertise includes reading fluency and word study, reading in elementary and middle grades, struggling readers, and parental involvement. He is a professor of literacy education at Kent State University, and in 2010 Rasinski was elected to the International Reading Hall of Fame. He has served on the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association, and his research on reading has been published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, Reading Psychology, and the Journal of Educational Research. Rasinski has also served as co-editor of The Reading Teacher and the Journal of Literacy Research.
Doug Buehl
Buehl is a teacher, professional development leader, and adolescent literacy consultant. He spent 33 years in the Madison Metropolitan School District and presents literacy workshops, collaborates with teachers as a school literacy coach, teaches struggling readers, coordinates a school wide content area tutoring program, teaches college-preparatory advanced reading, and teaches night school students returning for their high school diploma. In addition, he was a founding member of IRA’s Commission on Adolescent Literacy and was a part of the interdisciplinary task force that drafted the national Standards for Middle and High School Literacy Coaches (2006), a joint collaboration between IRA, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Council for the Social Studies. He is the author of many books, including Developing Readers in the Academic Disciplines and Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning, Fourth Edition.
Jana Echevarria & MaryEllen Vogt
Both Echevarria and Vogt are co-developers with Deborah Short of the Sheltered Instruction Observational Protocol (SIOP) Model of Instruction. Echevarria’s experience includes elementary and secondary teaching in general education, special education, English as a Second Language (ESL), and bilingual programs. Her research focuses on effective instruction for English Learners, including those with learning disabilities. She has published over 50 books, book chapters, and journal articles.
Vogt has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, special education specialist, curriculum coordinator, and teacher educator. She was invited to serve as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Cologne in Germany. Vogt was the President of the International Reading Association, inducted into the California Reading Hall of Fame, and received her university’s Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award.
Phyllis C. Hunter
Hunter had the esteemed experience of being an advisor to the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education. As a reading manager of the Houston ISD, she led the reading initiative that ultimately shaped the nation’s reading policy. She serves on the advisory board for the Broad Prize in Urban Education, the Consortium for Reading Excellence (CORE), the Neuhaus Education Center, and the National Center for Family Literacy. She was also named the Marcus Garvey Educator of the Year in 2002 by the National Alliance of Black School Educators. And in 2009, Scholastic Inc. presented her with its inaugural Heroes Award for her contributions to the field of children’s literacy. In addition, Hunter is the author of the Phyllis C. Hunter Classroom Libraries and It’s Not Complicated: What I Know for Sure About Helping Our Students of Color Become Successful Readers.
Michelle Kelley & Nicki Clausen-Grace
Michelle J. Kelley focuses on comprehension and the role of independent reading in terms of engagement, motivation, self-efficacy, and metacognition. She is an associate professor in reading at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where she teaches pre-service teachers and graduate students in the Teaching and Learning Principles Department. She recently became a Professor in Residence at Carillon Elementary School in Oviedo, Florida. Kelly has authored several children’s books, been recognized with several Disney Teacherrific awards, and received numerous grants to facilitate literacy. Currently, she’s a co-editor of Literacy Research and Instruction, a journal published by the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers.
Nicki Clausen-Grace is a teacher, author, consultant, and staff developer. As a consultant, she speaks about reading engagement, content area reading, literature/text circles, word study, and comprehension strategies. Clausen-Grace teaches fourth grade at Carillon Elementary School in Oviedo, Florida. She has won numerous Disney Innovative Teaching Practices and Teacherrific awards, and she attained National Board Certification as a Middle Childhood Generalist in 1999. As a columnist for Central Florida Family, she has authored more than 50 articles on local schools and other education topics. Clausen-Grace and Kelly have recently released Comprehension Shouldn’t Be Silent: From Strategy Instruction to Student Independence, Second Edition.
Jennifer Altieri
Altieri has conducted workshops at the elementary and middle school levels on various literacy topics, and served as a reading consultant for elementary and middle schools in the St. Louis Public and University City school districts in St. Louis, Missouri, and at Port Royal Elementary in Beaufort, South Carolina. She is a professor at St. John’s University in Queens, New York, and author of Powerful Content Connections: Nurturing Readers, Writers and Thinkers in Grades K-3; Content Counts! Developing Disciplinary Literacy Skills, K–6; and Literacy + Math = Creative Connections in the Elementary Classroom. Altieri has published articles in Teaching Children Mathematics, Teaching Exceptional Children, Reading Psychology, Reading Research and Instruction, among other professional journals. In addition, she served on IRA’s 2010 Standards Committee and Charleston Mayor Riley’s Literacy Task Force.
The IRA 2014 Conference is in New Orleans from May 10–12, 2014, and Institute Day is May 9. Register online, by phone, by fax, or by mail. See www.iraconference.org for details. We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans!
Chelsea Miller is the strategic communications intern at the International Reading Association.