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    Program Accreditation Process: From Obligation to PLC Opportunity

     | Jul 02, 2012

    by Allison Dagen and Aimee Moorewood

    In February 2012, a message quickly circulated among our faculty in the reading program at West Virginia University. Congratulations, we did it! Without reading any further into the body of the email–all five of us understood the message. The program report we submitted a semester earlier to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) had been approved. Nationally recognized. No conditions.

    Allison Dagen

    Allison Dagen

    Aimee Morewood

    Aimee Morewood

    Currently, over 150 graduate reading programs across the county have successfully attained accreditation through partnership between the Specialized Professional Association (SPA), the International Reading Association (IRA), and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). To achieve national accreditation, a program must submit a program recognition report before their institution's NCATE site visit. In this report, data of a program’s six to eight key assessments are presented as well as a clearly defined explanation of how these assessments align with the IRA standards. See International Reading Association’s website for a detailed description of the IRA/NCATE accreditation process.

    Our goal in this short article is to share our experience of how we (unknowingly) transformed our accreditation process work and surprisingly developed something greater than a successful program report–that is, a Professional Learning Community (PLC). It is our hope that others who are working through this process or are about to can learn from our collective seven year journey. 

    Background

    At West Virginia University, we offer a 36-credit Masters of Reading program. WVU is one of five institutions in the state that offer Reading Specialist certification. During any given semester we have 100-150 active graduate students. Our program reaches students across the state through regional cohort groups and online course offerings. Our program faculty consists of five full time professors and half dozen adjunct instructors.

    Our work on this accreditation period began shortly after the International Reading Association’s Standards for Reading Professionals, Revised (2003) was released, one year after our last successful program recognition decision. Although we were seven years away from our next report submission, we knew that our program and our candidates would benefit greatly if we immediately integrated the new Standards, particularly the literacy coaching elements into our program. Over the next several years, we began developing a literacy coaching philosophy/strand, developing our program’s key assessments and scoring rubrics, and collecting /analyzing candidate data. During this time, we also began to schedule regular program meetings, usually at least once a month (coinciding with our regular faculty meetings) and sometimes met more regularly, especially as some of our self-imposed deadlines approached. We all attended these meetings, contributed equally and took the program development work seriously. Further, at least one faculty member regularly attended IRA/NCATE training sessions at the annual conference and would return to share the most recent updates from IRA.

    It was not until near the end of the process, only a few months before submitting our final program recognition report that we came to understand how certain dimensions of this process mirror traits of a PLC. As we (the authors) worked through some final report edits, we were discussing how PLCs were being implemented in the schools within which we worked. In these local schools, teachers discussed how they used their PLC time to plan and meet together to, explore current research, analyze student work, discuss best practice and pedagogy and make changes in curriculum and instruction to best meet their students’ needs. Much of what the teachers were discussing regarding their PLC efforts were the activities we were engaged in for the past seven years.

    Professional Learning Communities

    Professional learning communities (PLCs) are not new phenomena in education. DeFour, DeFour and Eaker (2008) discuss three key characteristics defining a PLCs: (1) ensuring that students learn (2) developing a culture of collaboration and (3) focusing on results. Dana and Yendol-Hoppey (2008) present key elements of healthy inquiry-oriented PLCs. Below we highlight a number of these elements and share how we applied these principles in our accreditation work.

    • Establish a vision that creates momentum for the work. This was simple – our vision was to successfully prepare our program candidates to serve as Reading Specialists and Literacy Coaches.  The 2003 IRA Standards document guided this vision; we knew we had to develop and emphasize leadership capacity as part of our candidates’ experience. We used many high quality resources (e.g. Bean, 2010; Walpole & McKenna, 2004, International Reading Association website) to guide our work while reshaping program design and content. Additionally, since we began this work so soon after our last accreditation recognition, we had ample time to reflect on major changes which allowed us to maintain momentum and enthusiasm.
    • Understand and embrace collaboration. Over the seven years the demographics of our Reading faculty changed (several faculty left, others were hired), but regardless of who was in the group, Reading faculty participation was always at 100%.  Although scheduling and maintaining this large block of time (usually 2-4 hours) was a challenge for five overcommitted faculty members, we were successful and began to look forward to the meetings. We all contributed in this group effort to reshape our candidates’ experience. We were co-learners, co-decision makers, and co-coaches in this process. For example, we spent multiple meetings analyzing the Coaching Activities: Levels of Intensity figure included in the IRA position statement on coaching. We were able to collaborate to determine in which of our twelve courses we would introduce this figure and in which courses we would evaluate candidates’ fieldwork experience using the figure as a framework. This process was informative and meaningful; we were able to analyze the Standards, discuss course content, and make connections between the two as a collaborative group.
    • Build trust among group members and establish critical friendships. We approached this work seriously and wanted to understand how and where to improve our program. To accomplish this goal, we needed to deepen our personal and professional relationships. While the relationship and trust building was certainly centered on our program work, it also came in the form of learning more about each other personally as well as professionally. For example, during our meetings, one of our colleagues liked to demonstrate evidence of how our candidates were using technology in the clinic (e.g. WAV files for fluency, Flip videos for coaching feedback). This would usually lead the rest of us to share our own research, new project ideas, and teaching stories (i.e. building trust). Further, we also spent time socializing and engaging in personal conversations (e.g. one colleague makes the best homemade salad dressing.) All of these interactions fostered trust, which allowed us to become critical friends. As our critical friendships developed, we began to use this time to seek out opinions and provide and accept feedback to and from each other.
    • Hold the group accountable and document learning. During these meetings, we gave ourselves time to discuss current research on literacy coaching, reflect, collaborate and engage in rich, uninterrupted conversations with each other. We also came to these sessions with our task completed – in other words much work was accomplished by individuals between these meetings.  For example, at one meeting, we were all required to bring multiple copies of our most recent assessment rubrics and we spent the time reviewing drafts and conferencing with each other about the content. This meeting was quite productive and would not have been so if the group members had not come prepared. In addition to walking away from the meetings with individual to-do lists and due dates,  one faculty member would summarize all key points of the meeting,  the individual work products due, and the next meeting dates/time for this work, and then distribute this information via email soon after the work session. Looking back at these artifacts reminds us of how much work we did accomplish during this process.
    • Encourage, recognize and appreciate diversity within the group, understand change and acknowledge the discomfort it may bring to some PLC members. The hours we spent meeting in our reading clinic collaborating about  accreditation was professional development for us  but we are not sure we thought of it that way at the time, especially early on. In hindsight, we transitioned from “to meet this one objective” to the  growth of a professional collaborative culture. We learned a lot about each other’s background experiences, differing views on pedagogy and general work styles. Sometimes this collaboration was challenging, and differences did emerge For example, we designated one of our key assessments as an action research project and some in the group felt the assignment did not contain all elements of teacher research; therefore it should be renamed or revised. Coming to a collective agreement about what this key assessment should look like, its title, and how it needed to be implemented within our program was important because changing this assignment to reflect substantive teacher research impacted the program. There was much discussion about these changes, some of which caused member discomfort; however, these conversations were very productive. Questioning each other’s assumptions and prompting thinking and discussion was a healthy component of our work.
    • Comprehensive view of data. Once our assessments and rubrics were in place, we immediately started collecting data. We put protocols in place to inform and prepare adjuncts for a number of these key assessments; we had three to four years of data, collected while we continued to fine tune and tweak these assessments. The rubrics that we created would allow us to collect ample data on each of the IRA standard elements. At the beginning, we collected these data in “old school” fashion with paper/pencil checklists and huge boxes of raw data/candidate work. Over the course of the process, we went from coding in basic excel spreadsheets to implementing LiveText when our college purchased a license (a life saver!). We were able to use the data collected and look at candidate performance across multiple years and across sections taught (e.g. online vs. face to face) and even over time as the assessments and rubrics were refined.  For example, over time, we were able to see positive trends across the candidates in our state’s licensure exam, particularly in the Reading Leadership section of the assessment.
    • Work with building administrators. We were well supported by our department chair, dean and college’s NCATE coordinator who saw the value in the way in which we approached this task. Efforts were made for course reassignments, supplemental funds/summer pay and funds to attend conference sessions offered by IRA and NCATE. We’ve felt completely supported by the International Reading Association. For example, at the beginning of our work, we used the key assessment and rubric examples posted on the IRA website to guide the development of our first few key assessments.  From the resources (web-based, conference trainings) to IRA personnel (thank you Gail Keating) to the dozen or so of our colleagues who have taken on the enormous service task of becoming the experts in the field of IRA accreditation (thank you Diane Kern, Debra Miller, Michael Shaw, and Bill Smith!), we always felt supported.  In fact, at times we felt others, within our college must have had SPA – envy.

    The outcomes of our accreditation work were (1) We have strengthened our high quality program for preparing our reading specialist candidates and (2) we also created a Professional Learning Community (PLC) among our faculty. While what we described here was the positive highlights of our group growing as a PLC in higher education, we recognize that we did stumble and hit some obstacles both individually and collectively during this process. However even with obstacles, the PLC provided support for our professional learning at the higher education level.

    Resources

    Bean, R.M. (2010). The Reading Specialist: Leadership in the classroom, school, and community. (2nd edition). New York: Guilford Publication.

    Dana, N. & Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2008).  The reflective educator’s guide to professional development.  Coaching inquiry-oriented learning communities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

    DuFour, R., DuFour, R. & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities at work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IL: Solution Tree.

    International Reading Association. (2010). Standards for reading professionals – Revised 2010. Newark, DE: Author

    International Reading Association. (2004). The role and qualifications of the Reading Coach in the United States. Newark, DE: Author

    International Reading Association. (2003). Standards for reading professionals – Revised 2003. Newark, DE: Author

    Walpole, S., & McKenna, M.  (2004). The Literacy Coach’s handbook.  New York: Guilford Publications. 

    Allison Swan Dagen is an associate professor at West Virginia University, Allison.swan@mail.wvu.edu.

    Aimee Morewood is an assistant professor at West Virginia University, aimee.morewood@mail.wvu.edu. 



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    by Allison Dagen and Aimee Moorewood In February 2012, a message quickly circulated among our faculty in the reading program at West Virginia University. Congratulations, we did it! Without reading any further into the body of the email–all five...Read More
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    Featured Council: California Reading Association

     | Jun 29, 2012

    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. 

    California Event 

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




    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...Read More
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    Remembering IRA Past President Dale Johnson

     | Jun 28, 2012

    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.

    Dale JohnsonDr. 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. 

     

     


    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...Read More
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    A Primer on Early Reading Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

     | Jun 27, 2012

    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

    Table 1

    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

    Table 2

    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.

    Sierre Leone
    Sierre Leone

    Sierre Leone
    Sierre Leone

    Sierre Leone
    Sierre Leone

    Kenya
    Kenya

     

    Kenya
    Kenya

    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:

    Kenya: 

    References

    Clegg, J., & Afitska, O. (2011). Teaching and learning in two languages in African classrooms. Comparative Education, 47(1), 61-77. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03050068.2011.541677

    Gove, A. & Wetterberg, A. (Eds.) (2011). The Early Grade Reading Assessment: Applications and Interventions to Improve Basic Literacy. Research Triangle Park: RTI Press. Retrieved from http://www.rti.org/pubs/bk-0007-1109-wetterberg.pdf

    Hungi, N., Makuwa, D., Ross, K., Saito, M., Dolata, S.,van  Cappelle, F., Paviot, L. & Vellien, J. (2010). SACMEQ III project results: Pupil achievement levels in reading and mathematics. Retrieved from: article

    Jukes, M., Vagh, S. B. & Kim, Y-K (2006, September). Development of assessments of reading ability and classroom behavior. Report prepared for the World Bank. Retrieved from http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/EdStats/KENwp06.pdf

    Rubagumya, C. M. (Ed.) (1998). Teaching & researching language in African classrooms. Great Britain: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

    Seymour, Philip H. K.; Aro, Mikko & Erskine, J. M. (2003). Foundation of literacy acquisition in European orthographies. British Journal of Psychology, 94, 143-174.

    Van Der Gaag, Jacques and Adams, Anda (2010). Where is the learning? Measuring schooling efforts in developing countries. Policy Brief 2010-04 The Brookings Institute. Retrieved from article

    Ziegler, J. C., & Goswami, U. (2006). Becoming literate in different languages: similar problems, different solutions. Developmental Science, 9(5), 429-436. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=16911438

     

    Michelle Commeyras is a professor at the University of Georgia, commeyra@uga.edu. 



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    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,...Read More
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    2012 IRA Award of Excellence and Honor Council Recipients

     | Jun 22, 2012

    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! 

    Council Awards

    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

     

     


    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...Read More
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