Words Their Way for Parents, Tutors, and School Volunteers

Michelle Picard is the K-12 supervisor of English Language Arts in Arlington Public Schools in Virginia. She holds both a Masters and Doctoral degree from the University of Virginia focused on literacy education, research, and leadership. She spent over a decade teaching elementary and middle school followed by positions as a K-12 Literacy Specialist, Director of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, adjunct professor, and director of a summer graduate reading clinic. Her background and interests focus on word knowledge and its relationship to reading, writing, and spelling, literacy development K-12, intervention, and children’s and adolescent literature. She authored the 2011 CODiE award winning professional learning course Words Their Way Online.

Alison Meadows is the assistant principal of Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy in Alexandria City Public Schools in Virginia. Alison is a former second grade teacher, special education teacher, and reading specialist. She has also served as an adjunct professor for the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia and continues to work with schools as a literacy consultant. Her background and interests focus on literacy development, developmental spelling, reading intervention, and professional learning for educators.

Marcia Invernizzi is Henderson Professor of Reading Education in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. She and her multilingual doctoral students enjoy exploring developmental universals in non-English orthographies. A former English and reading teacher, Marcia extends her experience working with children who experience difficulties learning to read and write in numerous intervention programs, such as Virginia’s Early Intervention Reading Initiative and Book Buddies.

Francine Johnston is retired from the Department of Teacher Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she served as Director of Graduate Studies, Coordinator of the Reading Masters Program, and ran a clinic for struggling readers.  Francine worked as a first grade teacher and reading specialist for 12 years before getting her doctorate at the University of Virginia where she first learned about a developmental approach to word study and worked with Dr. Marcia Invernizzi to develop word study materials and activities. She consults with school districts across the country and frequently serves as a professional development speaker.

Donald R. Bear is Professor Emeritus in Literacy and Director of Literacy Centers at Iowa State University and University the University of Nevada, Reno. A former elementary teacher, Donald currently researches literacy development with a special interest in students who speak different languages and he partners with schools and districts to think about how to assess and conduct literacy instruction.