Literacy: Helping Students Construct Meaning

About J. David CooperJill SlanskyMichael RobinsonNancy D. Kiger

Jill Ann Slansky (Ed.D. University of Colorado) is a retired National Reading Consultant and University professor. She has taught many courses in Reading/Language Arts Assessment and Curriculum Development. In addition she has provided Professional development for teachers in 49 states and three foreign countries. Her strong knowledge of practical classroom techniques comes from her experience as an elementary teacher a middle school remedial reading teacher and a teacher of special education children. Currently Ms. Slansky serves on the Board of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. J. David Cooper (Ed.D. Indiana University) is a retired professor from Ball State University. Prior to teaching at the college level he taught at elementary and secondary schools in Louisville Kentucky. Dr. Cooper has served as a consultant to the Department of Education in Washington D.C. numerous state departments of education and school systems throughout the country. Active in the International Reading Association he has spoken in all 50 states and eight countries. Dr. Cooper has authored or coauthored more than 20 books on the teaching of reading. He has served as an editor of the Indiana Reading Quarterly and as a reviewer for such leading journals as The Reading Teacher Journal of Reading and National Reading Conference Yearbook. Currently Dr. Cooper continues to write and resides in Key West Florida. Nancy D. Kiger (Ed.D. Ball State University) worked for more than 40 years in education. In her last 15 years of teaching at the University of Central Florida's College of Education she taught courses in reading language arts and children's literature as well as supervised student teachers. She also taught at universities in Indiana and Missouri. She began teaching as an elementary classroom teacher and later taught reading at the elementary and middle-school levels in Indiana. She was a writer and editor of literacy materials for over 25 years. Nancy Kiger died in 2009. Michael D. Robinson (M.S. Ball State University) retired as the curriculum support specialist and Director of Reading English and Language Arts K12 as well as the coordinator of multi-tiered systems of support (MTTS) and Problem Solving/Response to Intervention (PS/RtI) for Monroe County Public Schools in Florida. Formerly he was a Curriculum Support Specialist in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools where he developed curriculum and served as a Master Coach in reading and language arts. He taught second third and fourth grades and was a Title I Coordinator Reading Specialist and Federal Grants Coordinator in Marion Indiana. Mr. Robinson who supervised student teachers while studying at the University of Illinois is coauthor of SUCCESS WITH RTI: EASY RESEARCH-BASED STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING RTI and CORE READING INSTRUCTION IN YOUR CLASSROOM. Jill Ann Slansky (Ed.D. University of Colorado) is a retired National Reading Consultant and University professor. She has taught many courses in Reading/Language Arts Assessment and Curriculum Development. In addition she has provided Professional development for teachers in 49 states and three foreign countries. Her strong knowledge of practical classroom techniques comes from her experience as an elementary teacher a middle school remedial reading teacher and a teacher of special education children. Currently Ms. Slansky serves on the Board of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.