Summer Literacy Symposium

Dr. Doug Fisher

Dr. Douglas Fisher is Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College having been an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association William S. Grey citation of merit, an Exemplary Leader award from the Conference on English Leadership of NCTE, as well as a Christa McAuliffe award for excellence in teacher education. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design as well as books, such as The Teaching Reading Playbook.

Dr. Amanda Goodwin

Dr. Amanda P. Goodwin is a Professor in Language, Literacy, and Culture at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. Professor Goodwin is a certified educator who has taught in public and private schools at the elementary, middle, and collegiate level. She is interested in how aspects of word knowledge and language, such as morphology, syntax, and vocabulary knowledge, support the increased reading demands that adolescent readers face when reading content specific texts. She also explores similarities and differences in digital and paper reading, attending to processes and comprehension outcomes. Dr. Goodwin has been involved in assessment and intervention design for various learners from elementary to middle school. She regularly publishes and works with teachers and school districts to bridge research to practice. She also is co-editor of Reading Research Quarterly where she edited two special issues on the science of reading.

Dr. Steve Graham

Dr. Steve Graham is a Regents and the Warner Professor in the Division of Leadership and Innovation in Teachers College. For 42 years he has studied how writing develops, how to teach it effectively, and how writing can be used to support reading and learning. His research involves typically developing writers and students with special needs in both elementary and secondary schools, with much of occurring in classrooms in urban schools. Dr. Graham is the former editor of Exceptional Children, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Journal of Writing Research, Focus on Exceptional Children, and Journal of Educational Psychology. He is the co-author of the "Handbook of Writing Research," "Handbook of Learning Disabilities," "APA Handbook of Educational Psychology," "Writing Better," "Powerful Writing Strategies for all Students" and "Making the Writing Process Work." 

Dr. Detra Price-Dennis

Dr. Detra Price-Dennis is the Executive Director of the Center for Digital Learning and Innovation and a Professor of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University's College of Education and Human Ecology. Her award-winning scholarship draws on ethnographic and sociocultural lenses to examine the intersection of critical literacy education, learning technologies, and equity-based curriculum development in K-8 classrooms. Prof. Price-Dennis has extensive research experience with digital literacies, equity-oriented pedagogies, curriculum design, and learning technologies. She has developed and led initiatives for professional organizations, institutions of higher education, and K-12 school districts to support the exploration of impactful teaching practices that intersect with online learning and culturally responsive pedagogies.

Dr. Timothy Shanahan

Dr. Timothy Shanahan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he is Founding Director of the UIC Center for Literacy. He operates a popular website for educators, www.shanahanonliteracy.com, and his provocative blogs are carried regularly on Reading Rockets. He was Director of Reading for Chicago Public Schools and served as Visiting Research Professor at Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is the author/editor of more than 300 publications and books. His research emphasizes the connections between learning to read and learning to write, literacy in the disciplines, and improvement of reading achievement. Dr. Shanahan served on the Advisory Board of the National Institute for Literacy and is a Past President of the International Literacy Association. He was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2007.