About Me

For nearly two decades, I was a reading researcher and university professor. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Johns Hopkins University. After teaching in California with Teach For America, I earned a PhD in Reading Education and a Masters in English Education from the University of Virginia. In 2006, I served as director of the University of Virginia’s McGuffey Reading Center. I am a prolific researcher and writer; I have written four books and numerous articles in top-tiered educational journals. I hold over twenty years of teaching and clinical reading experience. In 2019, I created the End Book Deserts podcast, and in 2022 created the Coalition for Literacy Equity.
I hold advisory roles in the following literacy organizations:
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Board of Directors, International Literacy Association.
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Elementary Advisory Board Member, Penguin Random House
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Ambassador, Freadom USA
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Staff, The Windward Institute
I am an active member of the following professional organizations.
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Literacy Research Association (LRA)
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International Reading Association (IRA) - Special Interest Groups: Professors of Reading Teacher Educators) and Organization of Teacher Educators in Reading
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American Educational Research Association (AERA)
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International Dyslexia Association (IDA)
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Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER)
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National Council of the Teachers of English (NCTE)