Literacy Now

Lynda Griblin, President of the California Reading Association (CRA), took some time during the busy end of the school year to share the news about her state council with Reading Today. As well as preparing for their annual Professional Development Institute in October, council members are working on international and local projects. 

1. Are you especially proud of any of your council’s projects? 

Each year our council contributes to literacy programs in developing countries. This past two years we donated funds to a program in Tanzania which provides books for children. 

2. What are the benefits of joining your council? 

There are numerous benefits for joining the California Reading Association. First and foremost our members have a network of educators and experts that can directly assist in classroom literacy needs. Through local councils, members attend workshops and presentations by authors and educators in the field of literacy. Annually CRA presents a Professional Development Institute featuring nationally recognized keynote speakers and numerous breakout sessions that address current issues and trends in literacy instruction. 

3. Are there any future projects in store for your council? 

We are currently in the final phases of planning for the 2012 Professional Development Institute which is being held at Town and Country in San Diego on October 19 and 20. Our keynote speakers include Lori Oczkus and Taffy Raphael. We are very excited as each of our breakout sessions offer two opportunities for attendees to learn more about the Common Core State Standards. We are also in the final planning stages developing a professional lending library that local councils can incorporate into their programs for the year. We understand that in tight budget years many educators are not able to travel to our annual Professional Development Institute. Through the professional lending library local councils will have a rich variety of options to offer their members.

4. How does one join your council?

Joining our council is quite easy. One can join through their local councils, which many people do, especially during local council events. People can also join through the California Reading Association website.

5. Is there a website, newsletter, or another way to find out more information about your council? Is there a person that prospective members can contact? 

People can find out more about the California Reading Association via our website, www.californiareads.org. We are excited as our Website is currently going through major renovations with a launch date towards the end of this summer. 

 

Literacy professionals attend a regional leadership event held in Redding, California.

Dr. Dale D. Johnson was President of the International Reading Association (IRA) Board of Directors in the 1989-90 year as part of a lifelong career in literacy education. His research can be found in university libraries and classrooms around the world. He authored and coauthored 18 books; 60 instructional texts for elementary, middle school, high school, and adult learners; an instructional game; and instructional software.

Dr. Johnson was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to Elizabeth and Arthur Johnson. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he served as a professor for 20 years. He also taught in Nigeria, Canada, and various states in the United States. Prior to his university work, he was a middle school teacher and paratrooper in the U.S. Army.

On June 19, at the age of 76, he made his transition at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, after a brief illness. He was a professor at Dowling College on Long Island, New York. Dale resided on New York City's Upper West Side during the academic year and spent his summers at his summer home in De Pere, Wisconsin.

Dale is survived by his wife, Dr. Bonnie Johnson, as well as his children (Lisa, Julie Howard, and Kirk), his brother Raymond (Jean) Johnson, his mother- and father-in-law Mary Anna and Stanley Von Hoff, five grandchildren (Alexa, Chase, Dylan, Astrid, and Seth) as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Friends were invited to call at the Ryan Funeral Home in De Pere, Wisconsin, on Sunday, June 24, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. A private memorial service will be held at a later date. The family requests, if you wish, to honor Dale by donating a children's book to your local school or library. 

 

 

by Michelle Commeyras

In 2010 I began volunteering on the Kenya Reading Project and in 2011 on the Reading Sierre Leone Project. I volunteer with a Canadian nonprofit organization that collaborates with local organizations in Africa to design, deliver and evaluate literacy programs. I have become fascinated with the apparent explosion of interest in developing early reading education on the continent. This interest is related to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s new Education Strategy to improve readings skills for 100 million children in primary grades by 2015. 

School Attendance and Reading Performance

In 2010 UNESCO reported that the out of school population of 21 million in sub-Saharan Africa had been reduced by about 13 million (Van Der Gaag & Adams, 2010). With the improvement of school enrollment came questions about what were students learning. Results from large-scale assessments of reading literacy became a cause for concern. For example, the results from the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) of 2007 showed that on average 64.2% of grade six students in 14 countries were able to read for meaning, engage in interpretive, inferential, analytical and critical reading (Hungi, Makuwa, Ross, Saito, Dolata, Cappelle, Paviot & Vellien, 2010). Yet performance varied significantly by country as illustrated on the following chart. In some countries there were many grade six students still at the pre-reading, emergent or basic levels. 

Table 1. Reading Performance on SACMEQ 2007

One of the significant initiatives has been to find ways of measuring reading attainment in the first three grades of primary school. The most widely used test is the Early Grade Reading Assessment developed by RTI International with funding from the USAID and the World Bank. It is a series of subtests some of which are modeled after the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills known to most educators in the U.S.A. as DIBELS. World-wide, EGRA has been used in more than 50 countries and 70 languages (Gove & Wetterberg, 2011). In sub-Saharan Africa is has been administered in 18 countries using whatever the language of instruction was in the participating schools. 

Languages and Learning to Read

Africa is a language rich continent. There are thousands of languages spoken and being able to speak several languages is common. One significant factor in learning to read is the language. Beginning readers are likely to be faced with different challenges when reading different languages. Learning to read requires knowledge of the basic units of the writing system. Those basic units differ across languages.

Each country has a language policy that stipulates what language will be used for instruction in primary and secondary schooling. In some countries the language of instruction differs from lower primary to upper primary to post primary school.  In the following chart some of the different configurations are illustrated.  In some African countries primary school is taught in a Lingua Franca like Kiswahili. In other countries students begin learning in their mother tongue like Shona or Ndebele in Zimbabwe. In many countries students and teachers are expected to change to a colonial language for upper and post primary education. Less often the language of instruction remains the same across school levels (i.e. Kiswahili in Tanzania).

Table 2. Examples of Variations in the Language of Instruction by Country

In Sierre Leone the lingua franca is Krio, but it is not used as the language of instruction. Yet the teachers I have worked with readily admit to using it to communicate with their students. It has been documented by researchers that while government policies stipulate a language of instruction there is plenty of code-switching (code alteration) occurring in classrooms where that language is foreign to students (Rubagumya, 1998). Teachers who use more than one language while teaching are engaged in something difficult and complex. To date there is not enough research on effective bilingual pedagogy (Clegg & Afitska, 2011). The collective wisdom is that the use of mother tongue or native language as the medium of learning and instruction improves the learning of official/foreign/colonial language as a subject of learning.

There are complicated tensions involved in getting agreement on a language of instruction across all those with a stake in public education. Which language leads to higher education? Which language preserves indigenous identity and culture? Which language facilitates learning to read and write? Which language has books and other curriculum materials? What are the economic costs and benefits of the language of instruction?  

Learning to read involves learning how one’s writing system encodes one’s spoken language. Each writing systems has its basic units. In alphabetic languages the basic unit is letters. In syllabaries it is syllables and in logographic scripts it is morphemes (Jukes, Vagh & Kim, 2006). Early reading instruction must take into account language differences with regard to orthographic features, subcomponents and pragmatics. English, French and Portuguese are three languages of instruction in Africa that are difficult with regard to decoding (Seymour, Aro & Erskine, 2003). English being the most difficult because “[i]n order to decode the most frequent 3000 monosyllabic English words at the level of the rime, a child needs to learn mappings between approximately 600 different orthographic patterns and 400 phonological rimes, far more than would be needed if the child could simply learn how to map 26 letters onto 26 phonemes” (Ziegler & Goswami, 2006 p. 431). The Early Grade Reading Assessment has a reading nonsense subtest. This makes sense for orthographically opaque languages like English but not for orthographically transparent languages like Kiswahili? It has been shown that children can read decode Kiswahili words that are not in their oral vocabulary. This is similar to reading nonsense words in English. 

Fluency rates are meaningful at the word level in some languages (English) and at the syllable level in other languages (Italian). Assessing reading fluency differs across languages because of word length. Agglutinative languages like Kiswahili have some long words and it takes beginning readers more time to read long words. For example the English word “food” is one syllable but in Swahili it is “chakula” a three syllable word. In some cases one English word such as “noon” calls for several words in Kiswahili “Saa sita mchana.” Variations such as these among languages present difficulties in developing internationally oriented assessments like the Early Grade Reading Assessment which includes subtests: number of letters read per minute and reading a connected passed of one minute. Comparisons of reading fluency across languages are recognized as being problematic. 

It is important to remember that most of the research on teaching reading has been conducted in developed countries with European languages (Trudell, B. & Schroeder, L., 2007). While English has become the language of globalization it cannot be used as a generalized model for literacy teaching because its orthography if far more complicated than that of many other languages (e.g. Bantu languages). Teaching methods with regard to phonics and decoding need to be adjusted to the specific characteristics of a language’s writing system.  Studies on European languages have found that children learn to decode more quickly languages with transparent orthographies (Ziegler & Goswami, 2006). Research needs to be conducted on teaching methods in sub-Saharan Africa where children are learning to read in both transparent and opaque orthographies.

Training Educators in Africa

I am learning that those like me who are invited as literacy experts from North America and Europe need information about the realities of teachers’ classrooms. Here are some of the questions that have been of concern to me in planning trainer and teacher workshops. I have continually considered how reading and writing lessons can be conducted in crowded classrooms with few resources.

• Which reading materials are available (textbooks, children’s literature, environmental print, teacher-made charts, and posters, etc.)?
• Which writing materials (blank exercise books, loose papers, sand) are available to the teacher and pupils? 
• Which writing implements (pencils, chalk, markers, crayons, sticks) are available to the teacher and pupils? 
• Is there room for the teacher to move among students to show illustrations when reading aloud from a children’s book?
• Does the physical size and layout of the classroom have space for literacy centers and other small group work or is the teacher limited to whole class instruction?

I have learned that teacher development projects need to involve those from outside the school who make decisions that affect the school. For example, in the Kenya Reading Project it has been important to have the Area Education Officer involved because he has been able to ensure that teachers receiving the training were not transferred to schools outside the project. He attended the three initial workshops for trainers and the three subsequent workshops for 90 teachers. Also in Kenya we had two quality assurance officers attend the Train the Trainer workshops. Their presence was important because they go to the schools to conduct evaluations.  In the role as evaluators they need to know what new teaching methodologies and materials are being introduced. The situation in Sierre Leone was different because we are not working with government schools. Rather the focus is on schools created by rural communities where the teachers are considered by the government to be “untrained and unqualified.” There is no official oversight or economic responsibility to those schools by the government.

I think it is crucial that there be ongoing support to teachers and their head masters between workshops. Providing an interactive workshop with opportunities to try out new methods of teaching is a starting point. Those are seeds that will only grow roots in classrooms and schools if someone with literacy teaching expertise comes on a regular basis to work side by side with teachers on how to implement the new teaching methods. This is a big challenge for fiscal and logistical reasons. Just getting to the schools can be difficult and sometimes impossible in the rainy season when dirt roads are flooded. Also the availability of those who have the expertise to support the teachers’ implementation of new teaching methodologies is often limited because they are volunteers or otherwise busy in their places of employment. 

Here are videos about teacher workshops in Kenya and Sierre Leone:

Sierre Leone:

At the IRA 57th Annual Convention in Chicago, many councils were honored at a special ceremony on Sunday, April 29, 2012 in Chicago Hilton & Towers’ International Ballroom.

The Award of Excellence is presented to those state and provincial councils that have distinguished themselves through organizing and implementing a wide range of programs and activities that, in their respective state or province, (1) serve and support councils, (2) contribute to education, and (3) coincide with and support the programs and goals of IRA.

The Honor Council program recognizes local, student and special interest councils that organize and conduct well-rounded programs serving both the council and the community. 

Below are Award of Excellence and Honor Council recipients listed alphabetically by state, territory, or Canadian province. The number listed designates the total number of years Honor Council status has been achieved. The Honor Council program began 30 years ago, so councils with "30 years" next to their name have achieved Honor Council status for the entirety of the program. 

Congratulations to all of these councils, and thank you for all of your hard work in the field of literacy! 

ALABAMA

Alabama Reading Association
Peggy S. Teel, President
Award of Excellence

Baldwin County Reading Council
Rose M. Mitchell, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Elmore County Reading Council
Cindy Cochran, President
Honor Council - 6 years

Heritage Reading Council
Cathy Woodruff, President
Honor Council - 5 years

Jacksonville Reading Council
Lesley Ingram Bean, President
Honor Council - 5 years

Metro-Mobile Reading Council
Pamela McDade, President
Honor Council - 25 years

Northwest Alabama Council
Katie Kinney, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Rainbow Reading Council
Rachel Harbison, President
Honor Council - 22 years

Tennessee Valley Reading Council
Sharon Walker, President
Honor Council - 11 years

University of Mobile Reading Council
Candace Early, President
Honor Council - 5 years

 

ALASKA 

Cook Inlet Literacy Council
Jessica Willis, President
Honor Council - 18 years

 

ARIZONA

Arizona Reading Association
Nancy Jean Brown, President
Award of Excellence 

Central Arizona Reading Council
Carolee Sopicki, President
Honor Council - 20 years

Greater Paradise Valley Reading Council
Julie Berlin, President  
Honor Council - 14 years

Phoenix West Council
Melissa Sue Selby, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Tucson Area Reading Council
Kristin Maynard, President
Honor Council - 29 years

Yavapai Reading Council
Joan Masaryk, President
Honor Council - 4 years

 

ARKANSAS

Arkansas Reading Association
Paula Findley, President
Award of Excellence 

Arkadelphia Area Reading Council
Kaila Murphy, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Arkansas River Valley Reading Council
Sandra Mitchell, President
Honor Council - 3 years

Central Arkansas Council
Sarah Brown, President
Honor Council - 26 years

Grant County Reading Council
Tara Derby, President
Honor Council - 20 years

Jefferson County Council
Susan Bitely, President
Honor Council - 18 years

Mountain Home Area Reading Council
Marjorie Rosenkotter, President
Honor Council - 2 years

North Central Arkansas Reading Council
Jeanne Harvey, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Northeast Arkansas Council
Viola Snow, President
Honor Council - 12 years

Northwest Arkansas Council
Donna Owen, President
Honor Council - 19 years

Pinnacle Special Interest Reading Council
Francie Ross, President
Honor Council - 3 years

SEARK Reading Council
Julie Workman, President
Honor Council - 20 years

South Arkansas Reading Council
Dana Kelly, President
Honor Council - 16 years

Three Rivers Reading Council
Michele Newnum, President
Honor Council - 20 years

 

BRITISH COLUMBIA

British Columbia Literacy Council
Carrie Froese, President
Award of Excellence 

 

CALIFORNIA

California Reading Association
Lynda Griblin, President
Award of Excellence

Alameda County Reading Association
Michele McKinley, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Contra Costa Reading Association
Grace Helen Maes, President
Honor Council - 28 years

East San Gabriel Valley Council
Gloria Ramos Gonzalez, President
Honor Council - 21 years

Gateway Reading Council
Nancy Rogers-Zegarra, President
Honor Council - 18 years

Greater San Diego Reading Association
Maureen Begley, President
Honor Council - 29 years

Inland Empire Reading Council
Loretta Cudney, President
Honor Council - 19 years

Kern Reading Association
Linda Stacey, President
Honor Council - 22 years

Orange County Reading Association
Laura Emerson, President
Honor Council - 30 years

Placer Area Reading Association
Taffy Maurer, President
Honor Council - 18 years

Sacramento Area Reading Council
Rosemary Rankin, President
Honor Council - 29 years

San Joaquin County Reading Association
Dr. Anne Werolin Weisenberg, President
Honor Council - 16 years

Santa Clara County Reading Council
Rachelle Romander, President
Honor Council - 29 years

 

COLORADO 

Colorado Council
Cynthia Bryant, President
Award of Excellence

Fort Collins Council  
Mary Stewart, President
Honor Council - 17 years

Jefferson County Council
Brian Fassbinder, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Pikes Peak Council 
Claudia Miller, President

Honor Council - 24 years

Thompson Council  
Jessica Elizabeth Endres, President

Honor Council - 23 years

Weld County Reading Council
Michele Warner, President

Honor Council - 24 years

 

CONNECTICUT 

Connecticut Association for Reading Research
Judy Stone Moeller, President
Honor Council - 8 years

Connecticut Northwest Council
Agnes Burns, President
Honor Council - 1 year

Greater Hartford Area Council
Laura Caruso, President
Honor Council - 14 years

Southeastern Council
Andrea Sadler, President
Honor Council - 12 years

 

DELAWARE 

Diamond State Reading Association
Maureen Keeney, President
Award of Excellence

IRA Student Literacy Council of the University of Delaware
Melanie Bugher, President
Honor Council - 2 years

Kent Council
Lindsay Osika, President
Honor Council - 19 years

Reading Council of Northern Delaware
Maureen Kenney and Mark Pietuszka, Presidents
Honor Council - 16 years

 

FLORIDA

Florida Reading Association
Maria Callis, President
Award of Excellence

Bay County Reading Association
Maggie Odom, President
Honor Council - 9 years

Duval County Reading Council
Lisa Wells, President
Honor Council - 24 years

Lee County Reading Council
Shannon Barone, President
Honor Council - 29 years

Okaloosa Reading Council
Angelle Crosby, President
Honor Council - 12 years

 

GEORGIA 

Georgia Reading Association
Sallie Mills, President
Award of Excellence

Henry Heritage Reading Council
Anita Beasley, President
Honor Council - 7 years

 

GUAM 

Guam Council
Neldie Pendon-Limtiaco, President
Honor Council - 16 years

 

ILLINOIS

Illinois Reading Council
Cynthia Wilson, President
Award of Excellence

Chicago Area Reading Association
Veronica Robinson, President
Honor Council - 19 years

East Central-EIU Reading Council
Jacquelynne Brosam, President
Honor Council - 15 years

Lewis & Clark Reading Council
Stephanie McAndrews, President
Honor Council - 9 years

Mid-State Reading Council
Teresa Arendell, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Northern Illinois Reading Council
Elizabeth Hoelting, President
Honor Council - 2 years

Prairie Area Reading Council
Ellen Kacic, President
Honor Council - 2 years

South Eastern Reading Council  
Theresa Coker, President
Honor Council - 3 years

Suburban Council  
Laura Polkoff, President
Honor Council - 18 years

Two Rivers Council
Priscilla Dwyer, President
Honor Council - 8 years

 

INDIANA 

Indiana State Reading Association
Jessica Heidelberg, President
Award of Excellence

East Central Indiana Council
Chyenne Wilder, President
Honor Council - 3 years

Evansville Area Reading Council
Laura Specht, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Gary Reading Council
Steven Mitchell, President
Honor Council - 26 years

Hamilton County Reading Council
Lori Silbert, President
Honor Council - 13 years

 

IOWA 

Iowa Reading Association
Julie Neal, President
Award of Excellence

Eastern Iowa Reading Council
Patricia Johnson, President
Honor Council - 14 years

Hardy Reading Council
Karla Bronzynski, President
Honor Council - 28 years

 

KANSAS 

Kansas Reading Association
Donna Knoell, President
Award of Excellence

Eisenhower Area Reading Council
Janelle Riedy, President
Honor Council - 20 years

Flint Hills Council
Dawn Moews, President
Honor Council - 15 years

Geary County Council
Diana Spriggs, President
Honor Council - 27 years

 

KENTUCKY

Kentucky Reading Association
Cindy Parker, President
Award of Excellence

Blue Grass Area Council
Lisa King, President
Honor Council - 4 years

Greater Louisville Council
Synthia Selby, President
Honor Council - 7 years

Jesse Stuart Council
Marcia Ellis, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Lake Cumberland Area Reading Council
Angela Ballinger, President
Honor Council - 5 years

Murray, Kentucky Area Council
Chhanda Islam, President
Honor Council - 3 years

Pennyrile Council
Peggy Stirsman, President
Honor Council - 1 year

Western Kentucky Council
Jennifer Montgomery, President
Honor Council - 25 years

 

LOUISIANA

Louisiana Reading Association
Deborah Rickards, President
Award of Excellence

Acadiana Reading Council
Christine Menard, President
Honor Council - 4 years 

North Louisiana Reading Council
Loretta Jaggers, President
Honor Council - 18 years 

Northeast Louisiana Reading Association
Dewanna Eady, President
Honor Council - 8 years

St. Charles Parish Council
Shannon Diodene, President
Honor Council - 23 years

Zachary Area Reading Council
Angela Cassard, President
Honor Council - 1 year

 

MANITOBA  

Manitoba Reading Association
Barb Galessiere, President
Award of Excellence

Manitoba Council of Reading Clinicians
Monique Gendre, President
Honor Council - 2 years

Reading Council of Greater Winnipeg
Cathy-Ann Winters, President
Honor Council - 26 years

 

MARYLAND  

State of Maryland IRA Council
Leslie Sunderland, President
Award of Excellence

Anne Arundel County Reading Council
Lenora Fox, President
Honor Council - 26 years

Baltimore County Council
Heather Hollenbeck, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Carroll Reading Council
Susan Schultz, President
Honor Council - 23 years

Eastern Shore Reading Council
Amanda Banks, President
Honor Council - 23 years

Garrett Reading Council
Ruth Georg, President
Honor Council - 10 years

Harford County Reading Council
Susan Bollinger, President
Honor Council - 30 years

Howard County Council
Maria Moy, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Mid-Shore Reading Council
Susan Frank, President
Honor Council - 16 years

 

MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts Reading Association
Nancy Witherell, President
Award of Excellence

Berkshire Reading Council
Catherine Salvini, President
Honor Council - 8 years

Cape Cod Council
Judith Werner, President 
Honor Council - 16 years

Central Massachusetts Reading Council
Martha Strachan, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Greater Boston Council
Jean Helstrom, President
Honor Council - 29 years

Massachusetts Association of College and University Reading Educators
Pamela Mason, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Nobscot Council
Marlene Correia, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Phyllis Allen Smith North Shore Council
Irene Duros, President
Honor Council - 25 years

Southeast Regional Reading Council
Janice Standring, President
Honor Council - 23 years

 

MICHIGAN 

Michigan Reading Association
Sue Sharma, President
Award of Excellence

Kent Council
Robin MacQueen, President
Honor Council - 10 years

Wayne County Reading Council
Hakim Shahid, President
Honor Council - 28 years

 

MINNESOTA

Arrowhead Reading Council
Michelle Bowker, President
Honor Council - 29 years

Central Minnesota Reading Council
Sara Kathryn Martini, President
Honor Council - 17 years

Southwest Minnesota Reading Council
Cynthia Whaley, President
Honor Council - 16 years

 

MISSOURI

Missouri State Council
Terry Sherer, President
Award of Excellence 

Lee's Summit Reading Council
Jessica Cox, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Northwest Missouri Council
Suzanne Thomas, President
Honor Council - 16 years

Springfield Council
Kerri Lyn Bruce, President
Honor Council - 29 years

St. Louis Suburban Council
Mitzi Brammer, President
Honor Council - 28 years

 

MONTANA

Montana State Reading Council
Leslie Ferrell, President
Award of Excellence

Central Montana Reading Council
Jennifer McAllister, President
Honor Council - 15 years

Northeast Montana Council
Jane Kolstad, President
Honor Council - 10 years

 

NEBRASKA

Nebraska State Reading Association
Dennis Dubry, President
Award of Excellence

Central Nebraska Council
Rebecca Bartlett, President
Honor Council - 30 years

Metropolitan Reading Council
Laurie Schmidt, President
Honor Council - 29 years

 

NEW JERSEY 

Monmouth County Reading Council
Tara Barry, President
Honor Council - 16 years

Reading Council of Southern New Jersey
Christe Leakan, President
Honor Council - 19 years

West Jersey Reading Council
Susan Yoder, President
Honor Council - 29 years

 

NEW MEXICO 

New Mexico State Council
Sheri Leckie, President
Award of Excellence

Gadsden Council
Nancy Bellagamba, President
Honor Council - 14 years

 

NEW YORK

New York State Reading Association
Joanne Joyner-Wells, President
Award of Excellence 

Brooklyn Reading Council
Jacqueline Streets, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Central New York Council
Marguerite Sundberg, President
Honor Council - 29 years

Nassau Reading Council
Mary Dickinson, President
Honor Council - 24 years

Niagara Frontier Reading Council
Mary Beth Scumaci, President
Honor Council - 8 years

Rochester Area Council
Carole Pelttari, President
Honor Council - 3 years

 

NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina Reading Association
Mary Jo Floyd, President
Award of Excellence

Crystal Coast Reading Council
Dona Styron, President
Honor Council - 4 years

Moore County Council
Mary Ellen Skidmore, President
Honor Council - 24 years

Raleigh-Wake Council
Anita Stack and Jean House, Presidents
Honor Council - 22 years

Robeson County Reading Council
Anthony Spallino, President
Honor Council - 11 years

Twin Rivers Council
Janet Zinni, President
Honor Council - 20 years

 

NORTH DAKOTA

North Dakota Reading Association
Leslie Hagemeister, President
Award of Excellence

North Central Reading Council
Melessa Bosh, President
Honor Council - 23 years

South Central North Dakota Reading Council
Melody Alme, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Valley Council
Alyssa Gilbertson, President
Honor Council - 16 years

 

OHIO

Euclid Council
Hanna Harad Szabo, President
Honor Council - 27 years

 

OKLAHOMA 

Oklahoma Reading Association
Laura Anderson, President
Award of Excellence

Northwest Reading Council
Connie Wise, President
Honor Council - 18 years

Tulsa County Reading Council
Meagan Moreland, President
Honor Council - 28 years

 

OREGON

Oregon Reading Association
April Hoy, President
Award of Excellence

Capital Reading Council
Kathleen Moran, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Driftwood Reading Council
Melia Jasso, President
Honor Council - 7 years

Emerald Empire Council
Kacey Kintscher, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Mid-Valley Reading Council
Cheryl Graham, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Portland Council of the International Reading Association
Rebecca Bard, President
Honor Council - 26 years

Sunset Reading Council
Judy Fisher, President
Honor Council - 6 years

Three Sisters Reading Council
Mary Hawes, President
Honor Council - 9 years

Umpqua Reading Council
Sandra Wright, President
Honor Council - 7 years

Vineyard Valleys Reading Council
Heidi Reinker, President
Honor Council - 9 years

 

PENNSYLVANIA

Keystone State Reading Association
Bethann McCain, President
Award of Excellence

Chester County Reading Association
Carol Harris, President
Honor Council - 20 years

Colonial Association of Reading Educators Council
Dale Harper, President
Honor Council - 25 years

Delaware County Council
Annemarie Jay, President
Honor Council - 9 years

Delaware Valley Reading Association
Theresa Deckebach, President
Honor Council - 29 years

Erie Reading Council
Anna Landers, President
Honor Council - 30 years

Lancaster-Lebanon Reading Council
Karen Heisner, President
Honor Council - 23 years

Seneca Reading Council
Sarah Seaton, President
Honor Council - 21 years

Tri-County Reading Council
Stacie Michelle Yanez, President
Honor Council - 21 years

 

SASKATCHEWAN

Kewetin Nene Council
Debby Noble, President
Honor Council - 12 years

 

SOUTH CAROLINA

South Carolina State Council
Faye Johnston, President
Award of Excellence

Berkeley Reading Council
Cathy Delaney, President
Honor Council - 21 years

Cherokee Reading Council
Tina Morris, President
Honor Council - 12 years

Columbia Area Reading Council
Beth Gilbert, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Edgefield Reading Council
Melinda Zipf, President
Honor Council - 3 years

Georgetown County Reading Council
Cynthia Kennington, President
Honor Council - 5 years

Greenville Area Council
Donna Tesner, President
Honor Council - 19 years

Laurens County Reading Council
Eddie Marshall, President
Honor Council - 11 years

Newberry County Reading Council
Rebekah Bruyere, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Palmetto Council
Mary Freeman, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Piedmont Reading Council
Denise Schweikart, President
Honor Council - 20 years

Saluda Reading Council
Ashley Brooke Oxner, President
Honor Council - 14 years

Spartanburg County Council
Amanda Cox, President
Honor Council - 16 years

 

TENNESSEE

Tennessee Reading Association
Deborah Setliff, President
Award of Excellence

Benton County Reading Association
Judith Matheny, President
Honor Council - 7 years

North Central Council
Mary Truka, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Smoky Mountain Reading Council
Liz Norton, President
Honor Council - 22 years

Tennessee Tech Council
Kim Wright, President
Honor Council - 27 years

 

VIRGINIA

Virginia State Reading Association
Jennifer Jones, President
Award of Excellence

Chesapeake Reading Council
Erin Stephens Royster, President
Honor Council - 27 years

Greater Washington Reading Council
Tiffany Lynne Brocious, President
Honor Council - 30 years

New River Valley Reading Council
Peggy Kincaid, President
Honor Council - 20 years

Newport News Reading Council
Sherry Edbauer, President
Honor Council - 30 years

Piedmont Area Reading Council
Joyce Spencer, President
Honor Council - 17 year

Portsmouth Council
Lisa Blount, President
Honor Council - 13 year

Richmond Area Reading Council
Caroline Head, President
Honor Council - 30 years

Roanoke Valley Council
Charles Richards, President
Honor Council - 24 years

Shenandoah Valley Reading Council
Anne Perdue, President
Honor Council - 23 years

Virginia Beach Reading Council
Eva Bryant, President
Honor Council - 30 years

 

WASHINGTON  

Washington Organization for Reading Development (WORD)
Kristin Elizabeth Wobker Courtney, President
Award of Excellence 

City of Seattle Council  
Dr. Denise Gudwin, President
Honor Council - 2 years

Lake Washington Council
Megan Porter, President
Honor Council - 22 years

 

WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia Reading Association
Kimberly Burris, President
Award of Excellence

Brooke County Reading Council
Dr. Maryann Ehle, President
Honor Council - 6 years

Cabell County Reading Council
Summer James, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Harrison County Reading County Chrisanne Diaz, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Lincoln County Reading Council  
Carol Turley, President
Honor Council - 1 year

Marion County Reading Council
Twyla Rote, President
Honor Council - 28 years

Marshall County Reading Council
Jennifer Lipinski, President
Honor Council - 12 years

Mason County Reading Council
Elaine Hussell, President
Honor Council - 19 years

Roane County Reading Council
Bruce Neal, President
Honor Council - 7 years

Webster County Highlander Reading Council
Tila Boyce, President
Honor Council - 13 years

Wood County Reading Council
Lois Meadows, President
Honor Council - 26 years

 

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin State Reading Association
Sandra Vander Velden, President
Award of Excellence

Headwaters Reading Council
Colleen Konicek and Brian Perriodin, Presidents
Honor Council - 16 years

Madison Area Reading Council
Janet Farnan and Robin Umber, Presidents
Honor Council - 21 years

Mid-East Area Reading Council
Emily Schwanke, President
Honor Council - 19 years

 

 

Harold L. Herber, or Hal, as most of the reading world knew him, passed away on June 6, 2012. A principled man, first-class teacher, mentor to many, and scholar extraordinaire, Hal was (and remains) a guiding force in the lives of his former graduate students.

Soon after he completed his doctorate at Boston University, he moved to Syracuse University in 1963 where he initiated a program of research that focused on developing ways to teach high school students how to comprehend complex texts. With the publication of his book, Teaching Reading in Content Areas in 1970, the reading field—college instructors, secondary school teachers, and reading specialists—had for the first time a principled guide to teaching reading processes and subject matter content simultaneously in all disciplines. 

Herber was a member of the International Reading Association (IRA) for over 45 years and served on the IRA Board of Directors. In 1984, he was the second recipient of the IRA Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award (now called the IRA Jerry Johns Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award). He was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 1987, and he received the IRA William S. Gray Citation of Merit in 1989. 

From 1968 to 1973, Hal and a Syracuse University colleague, Margaret J. Early, co-edited the Journal of Reading, which was renamed the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. In addition to a lifetime of scholarly writing that included a second edition of Teaching Reading in Content Areas (1978), Hal collaborated with his beloved wife and colleague, Joan Nelson Herber, in directing the federally funded Network of Secondary School Demonstration Centers for Teaching Reading in Content Areas. Later on, to celebrate their retirement years with their two Golden Retrievers, Hal and Joan collaborated on a book published under the title, Tank and Tiffany…A Love Story. In it, the compassion, humor, and insightfulness that marked Hal’s life as a teacher, researcher, and mentor played out in recognizable and predictable ways. 

Teacher of Adolescents 

Rosary Lalik recollects, “Hal was one of the most gifted teachers I had ever seen work with middle and high school students. His abiding faith in the capacity of all kids showed in how he listened to what they had to say, not because listening was a strategy for teaching them, but because he was profoundly interested in each kid and the sparks of brilliance he knew would be ignited if someone only opened a mindful space for their thoughts. All of us—teachers, administrators, colleagues—had enormous potential in Hal's eyes, and his trust and guidance inspired us to strive to realize that potential. I don't want you to think that I didn't notice Hal's wit and humor. We laughed often and fully as we journeyed together. Though Hal was generous with his time and energy with everyone who came within his care, it was Dr. Joan Nelson Herber, his closest colleague, friend, and confidant who remained at his side and gave him inspiration, joy, and abiding love.” 

Teacher of Teachers 

Kathy Hinchman, professor in the Reading and Language Arts Center at  Syracuse University,  shares, “Hal, or Professor Herber as we undergraduates addressed him, was my most important methods teacher. Each of his classes involved us in walking through use of recommended strategies with many practical examples. He read our papers, lesson plans, and journal entries with 100% engagement, always honing in on our greatest questions, worries, and ideas not carefully conceived. He positioned us on the cutting edge with regard to engaging students, teaching reading comprehension, developing independence, and organizing instruction—concepts that remain central today. He was an outstanding teacher of all teachers—what a privilege it is to have had him in my teaching life.” 

Teacher of Teacher Educators

Judie Thelen, professor emeritus at Frostburg State University (University System of Maryland) and Past-President of IRA (1991-1992), reminisces, "My first recollection of Hal Herber was of the day he arrived on campus in 1963. My friend, the late Ruby Martin, and I watched from the Reading and Language Arts Center as all 6’ plus slowly emerged from his Volkswagen with MA plates. Ruby was a doctoral student, and I was finishing my master’s program. We both signed up for one of his first courses and found it most refreshing. I returned to Syracuse each summer to take courses toward my next degree. In 1967 I received a phone call from Dr. Herber inviting me to participate in a three-year, classroom-centered research project sponsored by the US Office of Education to study reading improvement in the content areas in secondary schools. Hal saw something in me that others had not looked quite far enough to find. On June 6, 1970, he presented me with my degree and the keys to my future career as a teacher educator. I will never forget him. His legacy lives on through me and through many, many others who were inspired by his teaching, research, and writing." 

Researcher

Donna Alvermann, distinguished research professor in the Language and Literacy Education department at the University of Georgia, remembers, “Hal taught me an invaluable lesson about conducting research, and he did so within weeks of my first semester as a doctoral student at Syracuse University. Bill Sheldon, then head of Reading and Language Arts, assigned me as Hal’s graduate assistant. In our first meeting about the assistantship, Hal pointed to ten or so dissertations on his shelf that an earlier cadre of doctoral students had completed as part of his research program on secondary reading instruction. Hal said that he’d like me to read each one carefully, take notes, and then discuss the notes with him. He wisely insisted that to know one’s lineage and the work of those who have researched on a particular topic in the past is the first step a new doctoral student needs to take. Like so much of what Hal modeled as a scholar, this lesson lives on as a cogent reminder.” 

Mentor 

Mark Conley, professor of teacher education at the University of Memphis, recalls, “I remember Hal saying how he picked grad students not just by how bright they are, but also because of something special or quirky about each of them. He paid attention and listened, as if he were a student learning about who we are. There are also the enduring lessons, about learning from practice and practitioners, honoring history and those who came before, and the stress to try to make a real difference. Through him, I also got to know other SU doctoral students, which is easy to take for granted when they are just part of your life. I know we all developed shared values through our work with Hal and each other and, now that I have been at four universities, I have come to really appreciate those values. What we have is extraordinarily rare in academia and Hal, in his subtle way (which ironically belied his vivid personality) laid the foundation. I am going to miss him, but I am awfully grateful that I had him in my life.” 

Rich Vacca, professor emeritus from Kent State University and Past-President of IRA, adds, “Hal Herber was more of a father-figure to me than a mentor, colleague, and role model. I was 23 years old when I began my doctoral studies at Syracuse University.  I knew very little about the field of reading and felt totally unprepared for the journey I was about to take. Yet Hal took me under his wing and showed me how to fly. He taught me through example that self-confidence, hard work, and a belief in oneself were the keys to a successful life and career. Whenever I think of Hal, I’m reminded of Dan Fogelberg’s lyrics to the song, The Leader of the Band:  ‘My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man. I’m just a living legacy to the leader of the band.’ Thank you, Hal.”