Sharon Walpole Author

Sharon Walpole, PhD, is Director of the Professional Development Center for Educators at the University of Delaware, where she is also Professor in the School of Education. She has extensive school-based experience designing and implementing tiered instructional programs. Dr. Walpole has also been involved in federally funded and other schoolwide reform projects. She is a recipient of the Early Career Award for Significant Contributions to Literacy Research and Education from the Literacy Research Association and the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Delaware, and was named the Jerry Johns Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading by the International Literacy Association. Her current work involves the design and effects of the open educational resource Bookworms K-5 Reading and Writing. She has coauthored or coedited several books, including Differentiated Literacy Instruction in Grades 4 and 5, Second Edition: Strategies and Resources; How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction, Second Edition: Resources for Grades K-3; The Literacy Coach’s Handbook, Second Edition; and Organizing the Early Literacy Classroom.

Michael C. McKenna, PhD, was Thomas G. Jewell Professor of Reading at the University of Virginia until his death in 2016. He authored, coauthored, or edited more than 20 books, including Assessment for Reading Instruction, Third Edition; How to Plan Differentiated Reading Instruction, Second Edition: Resources for Grades K-3; The Literacy Coach’s Handbook, Second Edition; and Organizing the Early Literacy Classroom; as well as over 100 articles, chapters, and technical reports on a range of literacy topics. Dr. McKenna also served as Series Editor, with Sharon Walpole, of The Essential Library of PreK-2 Literacy. His research was sponsored by the National Reading Research Center and the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. He was a corecipient of the Edward B. Fry Book Award from the Literacy Research Association and the Award for Outstanding Academic Books from the American Library Association, and a member of the Reading Hall of Fame.

Zoi A. Philippakos, PhD, is Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research interests include reading and writing instruction for students in the elementary grades, strategy instruction and self-regulation, and professional development for classroom teachers. She has worked as an elementary school teacher and literacy coach, and she provides professional development to teachers on effective reading and writing strategies. Since 2010, Dr. Philippakos has codeveloped and organized the Writing Research Study Group at the Literacy Research Association, and she is Chair of the Writing Task Force at the International Literacy Association. She is coauthor of several books, including Developing Strategic Young Writers through Genre Instruction: Resources for Grades K-2, Developing Strategic Writers through Genre Instruction: Resources for Grades 3–5, and Differentiated Literacy Instruction in Grades 4 and 5, Second Edition: Strategies and Resources.

John Z. Strong, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Previously, he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in literacy education at the University of Delaware. A former high school English language arts teacher, his research interests include integrated reading and writing interventions for adolescents. His dissertation research investigated the effects of an informational text structure intervention on fourth- and fifth-grade students’ reading comprehension and informative writing. Dr. Strong is a recipient of the Steven A. Stahl Research Grant from the International Literacy Association and the Richard L. Venezky Award for Creative Research in Literacy from the University of Delaware. He has coauthored articles published in The Elementary School Journal, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, The Reading Teacher, and Reading Research Quarterly.