Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction and Assessment, 6-12

Jane M. Hunt, Ed.D., is a clinical assistant professor in the Teaching, Learning and Leading with Schools and Communities Teacher Preparation Program at Loyola University, Chicago. She has over 30 years of experience in education, including teaching in elementary and middle school classrooms, serving as a reading specialist and consultant, and working with teacher candidates and school partners as a university professor. Dr. Hunt's research and teaching focuses on preparing literacy teachers to enter the field with the knowledge, skills, and commitment required to be able to meet the needs of all learners, primarily those in at-risk populations. 

Martha Hougen, Ph.D. As a general and special education teacher, public school administrator, and university faculty member, Dr. Hougen has dedicated her work to improve the achievement of students who struggle with learning. She supports teacher educators, teacher candidates, classroom teachers, and specialists to implement the science of literacy.

While working at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin College of Education, Dr. Hougen led the Higher Education Collaborative (HEC). The HEC provided collaborative and professional development opportunities for teacher educators in literacy throughout Texas. She continued this work on a national scale with the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform Center (CEEDAR Center) at the University of Florida, working with state departments, institutes of higher education, and school districts.

Currently, Dr. Hougen is a national consultant collaborating with state departments and institutes of higher education to improve educator preparation. She also serves on the board of The Center for Effective Reading Instruction.

Dr. Hougen has contributed to numerous professional publications on literacy and teacher education, including two textbooks: The Fundamentals of Literacy Assessment & Instruction, Pre-K–6, 1st and 2nd editions (2012 and 2020) and The Fundamentals of Literacy Assessment & Instruction, 6–12 (2014).

Stephen Ciullo, Ph.D., . Dr. Ciullo is an associate professor of special education at Texas State University. He earned his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on improving writing and reading outcomes for students with learning disabilities. Dr. Ciullo also conducts research to support the content-area literacy instruction of educators who teach students with learning disabilities. He was previously a special education teacher in New York.

Susan M. Ebbers, M.S.,taught middle and elementary grades for 15 years before moving into administration, curriculum writing, and research. Her doctoral studies focused on vocabulary development, morphological awareness, and the development of literacy. Her curricular materials are published by Voyager Sopris Learning. Her children’s literature is published by Rowe Publishing.

Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D., is a leading researcher, educational consultant, and author who works with schools in the U.S. and internationally. Dr. Hasbrouck worked as a reading specialist and coach for 15 years and later became a professor. Her research in reading fluency, academic assessment and interventions, and instructional coaching has been widely published. She is the author and coauthor of several books, curriculum materials, and assessment tools. She continues to collaborate with researchers on projects related to reading assessment and intervention.

Leslie C. Novosel, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the College of Education, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa; she received her doctorate from the University of Kansas. Dr. Novosel is a former special educator and reading teacher for incarcerated youth with disabilities. Dr. Novosel is driven to improve the literacy and life outcomes of vulnerable adolescents who are at risk of school failure. She credits the editor of this book, Dr. Martha Hougen, for her guidance and inspiration.

Jennifer B. Wick Schnakenberg, Ph.D., is the principal investigator for the Texas Literacy Initiative at the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts and the project director for Preventing School Dropout with Secondary Students: The Implementation of an Individualized Reading Intervention and Dropout Prevention Intervention at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include teacher effectiveness, the impacts of professional development on teacher learning and student achievement, interventions for students with reading difficulties at all ages, and how leadership influences school culture and climate.

Cynthia Shanahan is Professor Emerita in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois-Chicago. She is also a principal investigator for Project READI and Institute of Education Sciences-funded reading comprehension grant. The focus of her research is on disciplinary literacy.

Leslie S. Rush, M.Ed., Ph.D., is Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming. An experienced English teacher and English teacher educator, Dr. Rush is the co-editor of English Education, the journal of the Conference on English Education. Her research interests include disciplinary literacy, literacy coaching, and adolescent literacy.

Abby Reisman, PhD., is an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania who focuses on historical thinking and adolescent literacy. Her most recent inquiries center on teacher preparation around high-leverage practices, such as text-based discussion, and the design and interpretation of Common Core aligned history assessments. With Brad Fogo, she developed the Reading Like a Historian curriculum (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWz08mVUIt8), a document-based curriculum that engages students in historical inquiry. She works with districts across the country on helping teachers implement the Reading Like a Historian approach.

Brad Fogo, Ph.D., is Director of Digital Curriculum for the Stanford History Education Group. He also works as a clinical research associate for history education at the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching. A public school history teacher for 9 years, he holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and teacher education from Stanford University.

Dolores Perin, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Education in the Department of Health and Behavior Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University. She directs the Reading Specialist master program, which prepares students for state certification as teachers of literacy. Her research interests include the education of struggling readers and writers through the lifespan. Dr. Perin received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and is a licensed psychologist with practical experience with individuals who have reading and writing difficulties.

Neva Cramer, Ph.D., specializes in learning and teaching through the arts. With a background in the performing arts and education, Dr. Cramer has combined her interests and studies to promote literacy and learning through the arts at state, national, and international conferences and through her research and publications. She was recently awarded the Elmore Whitehearst Award for Creative Teaching at Schreiner University, where she is an assistant professor and the director of education.

Desirée Pallais, M.A., is an independent consultant serving the needs of educators who work with bilingual and English language learners. Ms. Pallais formerly worked at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk and provided online supports for teachers. In her native Nicaragua, she founded and directed an innovative school; taught college; and supported national initiatives in curriculum, training, and evaluation. Currently, she assists reading reform efforts in Latin America.

Pamela Bell, Ph.D., has over 40 years of experience in special education and in national, state, and regional school improvement initiatives. Dr. Bell directs the Response to Intervention Institute at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in preventing learning difficulties through effective response to intervention implementation and in improving educational outcomes for youth in foster care.

Hannah R. Gerber, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Language, Literacy, and Special Populations at Sam Houston State University. Her scholarship focuses on the ecologies and pedagogies afforded through video-gaming practices among adolescents. She is the author of forthcoming books Game Night at the Library (Gerber & Abrams, VOYA Press) and Qualitative Methods for Researching Online Learning (Gerber, Abrams, Curwood, & Magnifico, Sage) and the edited volume Building Literate Connections Through Video Games and Virtual Environments: Practical Ideas and Connections (Gerber & Abrams, Sense Publishers). She is the founding co-editor of the Sense book series Gaming Ecologies and Pedagogies.