Kentucky Reading Association

Alfred Tatum, Alfred W. Tatum teaches in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois at Chicago . He also serves as Director of the UIC Reading Clinic where he hosts an annual African American Adolescent Male Summer Literacy Institute. Alfred authored the award-winning book, Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males: Closing the Achievement Gap (2005). His second book, Reading for Their Life: Re (building) the Textual Lineages of African American Adolescent Males, will be available by Heinemann in August 2009. He has authored more than 25 publications on the topics of adolescent literacy, teacher profressional development in urban middle schools and high schools, and the literacy development of African American adolescent males. Dr. Tatum began his career as an eighth-grade teacher in Chicago .  He currently serves on the board of the International Reading Association.

Tim Shanahan, is Professor of Urban Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he is Director of the Center for Literacy. He was director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools. His research emphasizes reading-writing relationships, reading assessment, and improving reading achievement. He is immediate past president of the International Reading Association. In 2006, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the Advisory Board of the National Institute for Literacy. He was inducted to the Reading Hall of Fame in 2007.  Sponsored by Macmillan/McGraw Hill.

Patricia Edwards, is a professor of teacher education at Michigan State University . She has developed two nationally acclaimed family literacy programs: Parents as Partners in Reading and Talking Your Way to Literacy. Her research focuses on issues related to families and children: parent involvement and teacher thinking, parent involvement in the reading/writing process, parent support of children's oral preparation for literacy, portfolio instructional conversations with parents during regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences, and parents' stories of literacy and teachers' reactions to these stories.  Dr. Edwards currently is serving as the vice-president of the International Reading Association.

Sharon M. Draper,, is a professional educator as well as an accomplished writer. She has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year, is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Literary Award, and is a New York Times bestselling author.  She was selected as Ohio 's Outstanding High School Language Arts Educator, Ohio Teacher of the Year, and was chosen as a NCNW Excellence in Teaching Award winner. She received the Excellence in Education Award, is a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award winner, and the Marva Collins Education Excellence Award.  Her literary recognition began when, as a challenge from one of her students, she entered and won first prize in a literary contest and the publication of her short story, "One Small Torch." She has published numerous poems, articles, and short stories in a variety of literary journals.

Janice Almasi, Ph.D., currently serving on the board of directors of the International Reading Association, is a former elementary school teacher and reading specialist.  She is currently the Carol Lee Robertson Endowed Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Kentucky , where she teaches courses in reading theory, methods, and research methodology.  She earned her doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Maryland and was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh .

Mike Artell, is an award-winning author, illustrator, TV cartoonist, conference speaker, musician and humorist.  Mike shares a simple message: a sense of HUMOR is vital to happiness and success. It's true for kids; it's true for adults. And it's especially true when you're under stress.

Floyd Cooper began drawing on pieces  plasterboard left over from his father’s work as a builder at the age of 3.  He drew constantly after that, even on his math and reading worksheets in school! After getting his college degree in fine art, Cooper got a job creating art for a greeting card company. But he dreamed of being an illustrator in New York City , and, with the encouragement of the artist Mark English, he moved there. After some rejections, he got a book manuscript to illustrate. Only later did Cooper find out that the book, Grandpa's Face, was written by Eloise Greenfield, a well-known children's writer. Cooper's illustrations for the book brought him a lot of attention, and his career has continued to grow ever since.

The technique Cooper uses is called oil wash on board. He paints an illustration board with oil paint, and then he does something unusual. With a stretchy eraser, he erases the paint to make a picture! He calls this method of painting a "subtractive process." He likes to demonstrate this technique for kids to show them "that there can be different approaches to age-old problems."

Floyd has been the winner of numerous awards including the NAACP Image Award, 3 Coretta Scott King Honors, 10 ALA Notables, NJ Center for the Book Inaugural Award, numerous Bank Street College Book of the Year Honors, Parent’s Choice Honors and starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and School Library Journal.

Some of his books include - JUMP!  from the Life of Michael Jordan-Written and Illustrated by Floyd Cooper, MISSISSIPPI MORNING-Illustratated by Floyd Cooper, and THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT-Illustrated by Floyd Cooper.

Floyd is being sponsored by Zaner Bloser at the conference.

Anne Goudvis, has been a classroom teacher, staff developer, and adjunct professor of reading and social studies. For the past fifteen years, she has worked at the Denver-based Public Education and Business Coalition as a staff developer and co-director of the Library Power project, a national initiative to improve teaching and learning in libraries and classrooms.  Recent interests include working in schools with culturally and linguistically diverse students and integrating reading comprehension instruction with content area topics in social studies and science.  She is best known for her collaborative efforts with Stephanie Harvey.

Jacquie McTaggart, author of From the Teacher’s Desk, shares a wealth of wisdom acquired from her 42 years experience as an educator in Iowa   McTaggart taught lower elementary children in Minnesota and Iowa public schools for more than four decades. She is the author of "From the Teacher's Desk", a humorous book about parenting practices.

Lori Oczkus, is a literacy coach, author, and popular speaker across the United States . Tens of thousands of teachers have attended her motivating, fast paced workshops and read her practical, research-based professional books. Lori has extensive experience as a bilingual elementary teacher, intervention specialist working with struggling readers, and staff developer and literacy coach. She works with students every week in classrooms and really knows the challenges that teachers face in teaching students to read!  Oczkus has written a book, Interactive Read Alouds (with demo DVD) that will be a joint publication with IRA and Scholastic; the book will be available in Jan. 2009. 

Lori is being sponsored by Scholastic at the conference.

John Rocco, is the author and illustrator of Wolf! Wolf! and the illustrator of Alice , by Whoopi Goldberg.  He studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design, and then studied some more at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. With these new skills, Rocco went West and worked as an art director on Film, TV, Theme Parks and Museums.  Digital Domain, Disney, PDI and Dreamworks/SKG were some of the places where Rocco hung his hat. In 2004,

Rocco returned to NYC to pursue a career as a children’s book author/illustrator. He was the winner of the SCBWI New York Showcase in 2004 and again in 2007. John lives and works in Brooklyn, New York .

Cindy Middendorf has been teaching and learning for thirty years. Twenty-two years in a full day kindergarten classroom has validated what early childhood teachers know in their hearts: children love learning. She has dedicated her teaching career to making sure that children also love school!

She has presented locally, regionally, and nationally for over fifteen years, and was honored to be a Disney Teacher of the Year nominee, as well as a member of the National Honor Roll of Outstanding American Teachers. Middendorf is also the author of Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten published by Scholastic.  Cindy is being sponsored by Scholastic at the conference.

Greg Tang travels extensively around the country to share his unique vision of math with students, educators, and parents. He is a keynote and featured speaker at NCTM and IRA conferences, consults with schools on math curricula and professional development, teaches children as part of enrichment and after-school programs, and promotes literacy through library and bookstore appearances.  Greg is an author on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's new California , Texas , North Carolina , South Carolina and Kentucky textbook programs and is also creating supplemental teaching materials that will allow teachers and parents to easily implement his strategies and techniques.

Greg is being sponsored by Houghton Mifflin-Harcourt at the conference.