Christine McKeon Author

Richard and Jo Anne Vacca are professors emeriti in the School of Teaching, Leadership, and Curriculum Studies in the College and Graduate School of Education, Health, and Human Services at Kent State University. They met as undergraduate English majors at SUNY–Albany and have been partners ever since. Jo Anne taught middle school language arts in New York and Illinois and received her doctorate from Boston University. Rich taught high school English and earned his doctorate at Syracuse University. He is a past president of the International Reading Association. The Vaccas have a daughter, Courtney; son-in-law, Gary; and grandsons, Simon, Max, and Joe. They volunteer, golf, and walk their toy poodles, Tiger Lily, Gigi, and Joely, in Vero Beach, Florida. Mary Gove is an associate professor at Cleveland State University in the graduate literacy education program and served as a co-author on the early editions of Reading and Learning to Read. Her research interests include action research and how teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning influence classroom practice and teacher efficacy. Dr. Gove has also presented papers at various conferences and seminars worldwide. A recent area of focus for Dr. Gove has been ecological critical literacy (ECL), an approach to enhance how we read and critically think about published and broadcasted information about the present environmental depletion of natural resources. Linda Burkey is a professor of education at the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. She is also the current appointee of the endowed Lester D. Crow Professorship in Education. Dr. Burkey teaches courses in the areas of reading methods, reading assessment, and special education. Prior to receiving her Ph.D. from Kent State University, Dr. Burkey taught special and elementary education. Her areas of interest in research include reading assessment and adolescent literacy. Dr. Burkey enjoys traveling and spending time with her family. She is a proud grandmother of Maura, Aubrey, and Ryan. Lisa Lenhart is a professor of literacy in the College of Education at The University of Akron. She works with doctoral students and is the director of the Center for Literacy. As a former elementary school teacher and Title I reading teacher, Dr. Lenhart focuses her scholarship on early literacy development and has co-written several books, including Oral Language and Early Literacy in Preschool and Early Literacy Materials Selector (ELMS): A Tool for Review of Early Literacy Program Materials. Dr. Lenhart received her PhD from Kent State University. In her free time, Dr. Lenhart enjoys hiking and reading.  She is the mother of young adult daughters, Hannah and Emma. Christine McKeon is a professor of early and middle childhood reading education at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio. She holds a Ph.D. from Kent State University where she studied under the mentorship of Drs. Rich and Jo Anne Vacca. Chris is a former second-grade teacher and Title I reading teacher, as well as high school reading teacher. She is a former co-editor of the Ohio Reading Teacher, an IRA-affiliated professional journal. She has also authored and co-authored numerous professional literacy articles and chapters in contemporary professional publications. Dr. McKeon's current interests focus on technology and new literacies. She is especially grateful to her son, Jimmy, for designing the cover for the tenth edition of Reading and Learning to Read!