here is increasing recognition of the im-portance of reading specialists in devel-oping coherent, inclusive reading programs that meet the needs of all students (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). Indeed, the po-sition statement, Teaching All Children to Read: The Roles of the Reading Specialist (International Reading Association, 2000), explicitly states, “schools must have reading specialists who can provide expert instruction, assessment, and lead-ership for the reading programs” (p. 1).
Reading specialists in schools are not a new phenomenon. In the 1960s, amid growing con-cern about students’ lack of reading achieve-ment, reading specialists were employed as “remedial reading teachers” to work directly with students experiencing difficulty. Although working with students has been the primary role of the reading specialist, there have been changes over the years. These changes have been influenced by federal guidelines, given that reading specialist positions often are funded by Title I monies. (Title I is a U.S. federally fund-ed program for at-risk students.) For example, the criticism of pull-out programs (Kennedy, Birman, & Demaline, 1986) and a demand for congruence between classroom and specialized
Principals and reading specialists
in schools with exemplary
reading programs were asked
about the perceived role of the
reading specialist. Results
indicate that training programs
for specialists should include
more leadership skills.
instruction led reading specialists to work along-side teachers in the classroom.
Thus, although the instructional role was still an important one, more and more schools began to investigate different ways to deliver the instruction provided by the reading specialist. But researchers and reading specialists them-selves have reported that reading specialists do much more than teach (Bean, McDonald, & Fotta, 1990; Jaeger, 1996; Quatroche, Bean, & Hamilton, 2001). Indeed, they provide resources to teachers, assess students with reading diffi-culties, develop and implement professional de-velopment experiences for teachers, and assume leadership of the school’s reading program.
In response to a national survey (Bean, Cassidy, Grumet, Shelton, & Wallis, 2002), over 90% of U.S. reading specialists indicated that they were involved with instructing students on a daily basis; the same percentage indicated that they spent time daily or some of the time serving as a resource to teachers. Almost all were in-volved to some degree with curriculum develop-ment and in working with other professionals such as special educators and psychologists. Likewise, reading specialists, in a study conduct-ed by Bean, Trovato, and Hamilton (1995),
T
Reading specialists in
schools with exemplary
reading programs:
Functional,
versatile, and
prepared
indicated that they performed many different tasks and, although they were very positive about their role, they expressed a great deal of frustra-tion and confusion about these many tasks that they were asked to perform. In addition to their in-structional role, they indicated that they had more and more responsibility as a resource or leader. Some felt that they were prepared to handle these responsibilities; others did not.
This leadership role is most often an infor-mal one. Indeed, the notion of shared leadership (Lambert, 1998) best describes the role of read-ing specialists. Specifically, shared leadership is assumed by all educators in a school when they collaborate to improve instruction for all stu-dents. In other words, they assume responsibili-ty for all students in the school, not just those with whom they work. Teachers and reading specialists cooperate with administrative person-nel, school board members, parents, and other community members to improve the quality of instruction in the school. Jaeger (1996) de-scribed the reading specialist as a collaborative consultant, serving as a resource to teachers and parents, doing classroom demonstrations, and providing ideas about instructional strategies and ongoing staff development.
The importance of this leadership role was emphasized in Allington and Baker’s (1999) de-scription of the role of the reading specialist. They indicated that the reading specialist must provide specialized and intensive instruction needed by some children and that the specialist should also be responsible for improving the quality of classroom teaching. Such responsibil-ity demands leadership of the reading specialist. One way to investigate the leadership roles of reading specialists is to analyze how reading specialists in schools with exemplary reading programs function. This task was addressed by the Commission on the Role of the Reading Specialist, appointed by the International Reading Association to study the role of reading specialists. Commission members developed a questionnaire that could be sent to principals of such schools to obtain their views about the im-portance of reading specialists to the success of the reading program. In a second stage of the study, the authors developed an interview proto-col that was used to talk with reading specialists themselves about their roles and responsibilities. These interviews enabled us to obtain an
in-depth picture of how these reading specialists functioned.
Stage 1 methods
Three different sets of schools were identi-fied: schools that had received recognition from the International Reading Association as having exemplary reading programs (1996–1999), schools that had been identified as having an ex-emplary Title I reading program (1994 –1998), and schools that had achieved distinction be-cause they had “beaten the odds” or performed at levels higher than expected, given student de-mographics. The data set consisted of 111 schools from across the United States.
The 19-item survey that was sent to the prin-cipals of the 111 schools included three sections: a request for demographic data, for information as to whether the school had a reading specialist and the “perceived” importance of that specialist, and for the principals’ perceptions about the func-tions or tasks of the reading specialists in their schools. Principals responded to multiple-choice items and to a Likert scale item asking them to in-dicate the frequency with which reading special-ists performed various tasks.
Stage 1 results
How important is the reading specialist? We received 58 responses (52% return) in which 39 schools indicated that they employed reading specialists. Over 97% of the principals in schools that had reading specialists stated that the read-ing specialists were important or very important to the success of the reading program.
What do reading specialists do? According to the principals, reading specialists performed many different tasks, from working with stu-dents to performing leadership roles in the schools (see Table). Indeed, results indicated that the most frequent tasks of reading specialists (performed on average more than several times a week) were instruction, diagnosis, and serving as a resource to teachers. In addition, specialists on average were involved more than several times a month in the following leadership roles: plan-ning with teachers, selecting reading material, working with allied professionals, coordinating the reading program, developing curriculum, coteaching, and participating in school-based study teams. And more than once a month on
average, specialists were involved in working with parents, guiding the work of parasionals and volunteers, and conducting profes-sional development activities.
Stage 2 methods
We wanted a more complete picture of how these specialists in schools with exemplary read-ing programs functioned. What did they do specifically that contributed to the success of these programs? We were hopeful that such in-formation would be helpful to the field, provid-ing data that would help other educators (e.g., administrators, reading specialists, and those who prepare reading specialists) to think about the qualifications, role demands, and expecta-tions for reading specialists. Again, our assump-tion was that reading specialists who funcassump-tion in exemplary reading programs are performing in ways that contribute to the success of those pro-grams and that they would have much to teach us about the role of the reading specialist. The next step was to talk with the reading specialists in these schools to get a more complete descrip-tion of what they did to promote reading perfor-mance of students.
We contacted principals from the 30 schools with reading specialists who wished to partici-pate in further research, asking that they forward our request for a telephone interview to the read-ing specialists. Because some principals had been transferred, taken a leave of absence, or were un-reachable by telephone, our pool of principals was reduced to 23 who agreed to forward our re-quest to specialists. Our interview sample con-sisted of 12 reading specialists from 12 states.
A 24-item structured interview protocol was designed to obtain detailed information about how reading specialists functioned. A large per-centage of the questions focused on the follow-ing five leadership tasks identified through Stage 1: serving as a resource to teachers, developing curriculum, coordinating the reading program, selecting or identifying reading material, and providing professional development. The goal was to obtain a detailed description of the cific daily tasks performed by this sample of spe-cialists. The remainder of the questions addressed other issues about the role of the read-ing specialist (e.g., instructional responsibilities, changes in the field of reading, specialist prepa-ration, and typical day activities).
Stage 2 results
Who they are. The majority of the 12 reading specialists interviewed were veteran teachers with total experience ranging from 10 to 39 years (M = 20.2). All participants were female. Eight of the 12 had 10–19 years of total experi-ence; three fell within the 20–29 years range and one within the 30–39 years range. All had taught in the classroom for 5–16 years (M = 10.9). Although requirements from the various state education agencies are quite different as to the preparation, definition, and title for reading spe-cialists, every respondent held some type of credential, certification, master’s degree, en-dorsement, training, or equivalent in advanced reading education.
Nine of the 12 specialists interviewed worked in schools identified as exemplary by the International Reading Association, two worked in schools recognized by Title I, and one worked in a school identified as “beating the odds.” The participants came from a variety of school set-tings, representing urban (42%), suburban (42%), and rural schools (16%). Size of school populations varied, ranging from 100 to 1,000 How reading specialists spend their time
(according to principals)
Task Mean
Instruction 4.50
Resource to teachers 4.21
Diagnosis 4.03
Plans with teachers 3.66
Selects reading material 3.53
Works with allied professionals 3.43 Coordinates reading program 3.21
Curriculum development 3.11
Coteaches with teachers 3.11
Study teams 3.02
Parents 2.95
Guides paraprofessionals 2.92
Conducts professional
development 2.89
Works with volunteers 2.56
Not reading related 2.21
Note. 5=daily; 4=several times/week; 3=several times/month; 2=once/month.
students. All reading specialists taught in build-ings with an intermediate grade population. However, they worked almost exclusively with primary students, consistent with the current em-phasis on early intervention.
What specialists do. As is evident from Figure 1, reading specialists were involved in five broad roles: resource to teachers, school and community liaison, coordinator of reading pro-gram, contributor to assessment, and instructor. All specialists served as a resource in some way, from providing materials, making instructional suggestions, and mentoring new teachers, to pro-viding professional development. All were in-volved with serving as a liaison to other school personnel or parents. Fifty percent of the spe-cialists worked with volunteers in the schools. A smaller percentage were involved in reading program coordination efforts and even fewer in
curriculum development. Assessment was a ma-jor responsibility, both conducting actual assess-ments and developing assessment tools. Finally, all but one of those interviewed worked with stu-dents—the majority using a combination of models, both pull-out and in-class. As is appar-ent, these reading specialists—in addition to their instructional and diagnostic responsibili-ties—were responsible for many tasks that, in our view, are leadership tasks. Yes, they worked with students (all but one), but in addition, they had responsibility for supporting the quality of the classroom teaching and for improving the school reading program as a whole.
In the sections below, we discuss each of the five broad roles, providing scenarios that de-scribe how one or two of the reading specialists chose to fulfill these responsibilities. All special-ists’ names are pseudonyms. (Figure 2 provides
Figure 1
What do reading specialists do?
100 100 100 100 100 67 67 92 83 50 67 67 17 17 67 50 92 75 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Percentage of respondents Tasks Resource to teachers Provides materials Instructional suggestionsMentoring/new teachers
Provides professional developm ent
School and com munity liaison
Parents
Special education Volunteers
Coordination of the reading program Selection of m
aterials
Curriculum development
Involved with assessmentCarries out assessm ent
Develops assessment
Provides remedial instruction CombinationPull-out only
a list of the many different ways in which the reading specialists implemented each of these re-sponsibilities.)
Marvine meets with a team of second-grade teachers on a reg-ular basis to plan so that her instruction is congruent with what the teachers are providing for their students. The team then meets afterward to discuss what worked and what changes to make. The focus is on adjusting the instruction so that it meets the needs of each student. Marvine has respon-sibility for mentoring new teachers, helping them become more knowledgeable about the teaching of reading. She mod-els various strategies for teaching reading (e.g., Making Words, reciprocal teaching) or for assessment (analyzing run-ning records). She meets with teachers afterwards to discuss the lesson and to answer questions. She also observes teach-ers as they try these strategies, providing them with feedback about their instruction.
Resource to teachers. Reading specialists and teachers working together are better able to solve problems, whether they involve individ-ual students or classroom instructional concerns. Every one of the reading specialists we talked with considered this resource role to be a major part of his or her responsibilities. The reading specialists in this study often provided profes-sional materials for teachers, including journal articles and professional books, classroom mate-rials such as book lists, children’s books, poems, and computer software. Several specialists indi-cated that they worked closely with the school li-brarians to hold book talks and host book fairs.
The reading specialists indicated that they were often asked to provide information about various instructional strategies that were being promoted in the schools. Some of the specialists did demonstration lessons; others shared strate-gies through informal meetings and discussions. One specialist indicated that she and a group of fellow teachers observed each other and then held group discussions about best practice.
The specialists who were responsible for professional development identified the follow-ing among the many topics that they addressed: reading comprehension, use of technology (Internet and software) for teaching reading, state assessments, brain research, writing, guid-ed reading, and balancguid-ed reading models. Some of the specialists actually conducted the profes-sional development activities, while others indi-cated that they were responsible for coordinating literacy-related activities for teachers, parents,
mentors, and volunteers. All those interviewed indicated that they were very comfortable in this resource role and felt it was critical to improv-ing the performance of students.
When Hannah enters the small, urban K–5 school building where she is employed, she knows she is in for a morning that will test her knowledge of at-risk readers. Today Hannah will not be working with her Junior Great Books group or Title I students but instead will be attending a Building Consultation Team meeting. She will work collaboratively with a group that includes a guidance counselor, several resource teachers, and the school principal in a meeting designed to provide inter-vention solutions for students who are experiencing difficul-ties, both academically and socially.
School and community liaison. All reading specialists had some responsibility for working with allied professionals, parents and other com-munity members, and with volunteers or tutors. All specialists indicated that they maintained on-going communication with parents in the form of newsletters, communication sheets, report cards, or telephone calls. Further, the specialists were responsible for parent training on such top-ics as selecting books, homework suggestions, and reading strategies to use at home. One spe-cialist reported a need to help parents understand specialized reading language (e.g., What is sight vocabulary?). At another school, the parent teacher organization members were given train-ing by the specialists and then assisted in admin-istering running records.
All reading specialists interviewed had some collaborative role with allied professionals, par-ents and other community members, and volun-teers or tutors. Specialists who worked on coordinating volunteer efforts of parents, grand-parents, community members, or college stu-dents indicated that they were involved in both training and scheduling. One specialist spoke of her visits to local colleges to recruit volunteers, highlighting the importance and value of having young adults in the schools as role models for children.
Reading specialists also indicated that they worked closely with special educators, even though they did not always share the same stu-dent population. As described previously, some specialists served on student assistance or in-structional support teams. One specialist indicat-ed that her relationship with special indicat-educators
was informal and that there was much sharing of materials and information.
Only a few specialists worked directly with paraprofessionals or educational aides. One spe-cialist described the work of three
paraprofes-sionals in her literacy resource lab; these in-dividuals helped students by playing games, re-inforcing skills, or listening to them read.
Last month, Jennifer attended a five-day curriculum alignment meeting with classroom teachers and other reading Figure 2
Roles of reading specialists in schools with exemplary reading programs
Resource to classroom teachers
Discuss and share ideas with teachers about help for struggling readers, materials and ideas that enhance reading instruction, and assessment.
Hold collaborative planning sessions to develop lessons and strategies for working with students. These are held either on a systematic, regular basis (once a week during planning time), as needed, or “on the fly.” Serve as mentor to new teachers by modeling, providing feedback, and coaching.
Demonstrate strategies (especially those that are new) for teachers, observe, and provide feedback. Participate in observations (teachers observing each other) for professional growth.
Lead study groups (read a professional book or article and then discuss).
Provide professional development for teachers as part of the school staff development program; also teach classes that teachers can take for credit. Work with teachers in planning and conducting professional development in the schools.
Provide a “friendly ear” for teachers who want to talk about issues, problems, or ideas that they have about reading instruction.
Resource to allied professionals, parents, other community members, volunteers, and tutors
Work closely with the principal in setting a schedule and making decisions about professional development. Work with special educators and serve on instructional support or pupil personnel teams.
Work with librarians, speech therapists, counselors, and psychologists.
Serve as a resource for parents (communicate with parents, providing and accessing information); conduct workshops on how they can work with their children; provide workshops for parents of preschool students. Work with volunteers (provide training sessions, coordinate schedules, recruit).
Coordinator of the reading program
Assist in the writing of curriculum.
Look for and assist in the selection of new materials (including development of criteria for determining quality of those materials); assist in the piloting of new materials.
Serve as a leader on curriculum committees.
Coordinate schedules for reading specialists and classroom teachers. Maintain literacy center or location for various literacy materials.
Contributor to assessment
Assist in the development of assessment instruments (retelling protocols and running records) and selection of assessment instruments.
Conduct assessments for individuals or groups of students (e.g., assess all entering first graders). Assist in interpretation of test results with teachers and parents.
Coordinate testing schedules.
Share results of assessments with public.
Instructor
Provide instruction for individuals or small groups of students, especially those identified as struggling readers. Such instruction tends to be supplemental to that provided by the classroom teachers.
Work on short-term basis with targeted students, then provide program for classroom teachers to follow. Work in either pull-out or in-class settings, or both.
specialists. She was asked to participate in reviewing new ma-terials and possibly piloting a new program that would meet the goals of the textbook advisory committee. After returning from a day of observing the Four Block Literacy Model (Cunningham, Hall, & Sigmon, 1999) in a neighboring school district, Jennifer wrote an analysis of the program to share with others.
Coordinator of reading program. Although few specialists had formal responsibility for co-ordination efforts, many were involved infor-mally with such tasks as selecting materials for or disseminating information about the reading program. They were involved, to a lesser degree, with curriculum development. The majority of reading specialists in this study did not have a major role in the direct, formal coordination of the reading program, except for one respondent who was a Title I coordinator. However, a larger number of specialists assumed an informal lead-ership role in the development or selection of materials, including those for Title I, Reading Recovery, and schoolwide reading programs. Two specialists participated in curriculum devel-opment by serving voluntarily on districtwide advisory committees, which investigated or pi-loted programs before district adoption.
With the upcoming Title I assessments only five weeks away, Annette is organizing her assessment materials and coordi-nating a testing schedule that is least disruptive to the class-room teacher. As the school reading specialist, she is very familiar with student testing because she is in charge of indi-vidually testing all first-grade students, students referred by teachers, and new students who arrive throughout the school year. In addition, she meets with each teacher to discuss in-structional implications of students’ assessment scores. Annette also works with teachers to help them understand how reading standards and curriculum can be carried out in the classroom to prepare students for the state assessments. Contributor to assessment. All specialists as-sumed some formal or informal responsibility for student assessment, by developing measures, conducting the assessments, or interpreting re-sults. Many of these specialists formally assess all incoming students, both new students and those being referred to Title I. They also indicat-ed that they conduct informal assessments by ob-serving in classrooms and then conferring with classroom teachers about students. Specialists also assisted in the development and coordination of the school’s assessment tests. Further, inter-viewees reported that even when the assessments
were the responsibility of the classroom teacher, the specialists assisted in preparation and admin-istration.
After working 12 years as a classroom teacher, Josie took on a new role as a reading specialist. This position, which she has held for six years, is structured in a way that has enabled her to get back to the classroom by providing in-class instruction. Josie’s vision of in-class instruction involves working as a coteacher and coach with students who have problems. She says she and the classroom teacher create “a very positive at-titude” during the reading lessons they coteach. When she does, however, pull out any of the 45 students for individual or small-group tutoring, she makes a point of communicating with the classroom teacher regarding lesson planning, student accomplishment, and recommendations.
Instructor. One specialist in the study ful-filled a formal administrative role (Title I coor-dinator) and had no direct interaction with students. The other 11 specialists worked with students on a daily basis. These specialists had a caseload ranging from 20 to 80 students, with a mean caseload of 52. Each specialist described various research-based programs implemented in their schools (e.g., Reading Recovery, Four Block Model, and Junior Great Books). The ma-jority of the reading specialists taught using both pull-out and class models. The class in-struction involved team teaching and demonstra-tions and occurred most frequently in grades 1 and 2. The few specialists who provided instruc-tion in pull-out settings indicated that these ses-sions were special tutorials (e.g., Reading Recovery or small-group Title I instruction). The reading specialists felt equally comfortable with both in-class and pull-out models of instruction. As they indicated, many factors need to be con-sidered in making decisions about where instruc-tion takes place (e.g., needs of students, purpose of the lesson, numbers of eligible students, grade level of students, and the working relationship with the individual teacher). All specialists real-ized the importance of communicating with teachers, regardless of where instruction oc-curred.
These reading specialists seemed to value the instructional role. When asked to describe what they liked best about their positions, the majority indicated their satisfaction with seeing children succeed, or as one specialist said, “see-ing children get it.” Moreover, even though spe-cialists indicated that they needed more time to
fulfill their many responsibilities, not one sug-gested eliminating the instructional role. As one specialist said, “I am a teacher at heart.”
Leadership in exemplary schools
Principals of exemplary schools with reading specialists valued their presence and believed that these specialists contributed much to the success of their reading program. At the same time, prin-cipals saw specialists fulfilling a multitude of tasks that ranged from instruction to leadership, with instruction generally being seen as the pre-dominant role of reading specialists. The read-ing specialists who were interviewed fulfilled an instructional and a leadership or resource role. This instructional responsibility seemed to give the reading specialists credibility and access to teachers to discuss both students and the school reading program in general. Indeed, it provided the pathway to a leadership role. The leadership role is a critical one, which was undertaken in diverse ways and included working not only with teachers but also with other professionals, ad-ministrators, and the community.
Reading specialists we interviewed in exem-plary schools shared many traits and characteris-tics. All were experienced educators who had taught in the classroom, and all had participated in postgraduate work in the area of reading. All specialists were enthusiastic about their roles and passionate about the importance of effective lit-eracy instruction for students. All who worked with students indicated that the instructional role was one that gave them much pleasure and satis-faction. At the same time, they acknowledged the importance of the leadership role, which had a significant influence on the reading programs within their schools. Given their prior experience, their enthusiasm and expertise, as well as the na-ture of their position, these specialists seemed to accept the leadership tasks that needed to be ac-complished in each school.
These reading specialists in exemplary schools displayed behaviors and characteristics that promote shared leadership in schools (Lambert, 1998); that is, they are consummate learners, and they work with their fellow educa-tors to make decisions that have far-reaching ef-fects on each student individually and on the school as a whole. At the same time, they ap-peared to use the model suggested by Allington and Baker (1999): They had both an
instruction-al and a leadership role. All the reading speciinstruction-al- special-ists emphasized the importance of helping class-room teachers (and others in the school) to provide high-quality literacy instruction. They accomplished this by modeling, assisting, en-couraging, and coaching. Thus, their resource or leadership role was carried out in many dif-ferent ways. At the same time, they provided the intensive and specialized instruction needed by some children. Obviously, the extent to which these specialists accomplished both of these ma-jor focuses depended upon the way in which their positions were structured and the support they had from building administration as well as their own leadership capabilities.
The leadership requirements of these read-ing specialists call attention to the need for state certification offices and for universities prepar-ing readprepar-ing specialists to look more seriously at the standards or expectations related to leader-ship in their respective programs. Without sup-port for the leadership role and without preparation, reading specialists may not be able to assume these responsibilities successfully. In summary, the position of reading specialist is one that requires an educator with multiple talents—one who can work with children and at the same time emerge as a leader, working col-laboratively with colleagues to improve educa-tion for all students.
Implications
The results of this work have implications for many audiences—specifically, those who prepare reading specialists, school administra-tors who hire them, and reading specialists them-selves. Those aspiring to be reading specialists must not only be knowledgeable about literacy teaching and learning; they also must have expe-riences that enable them to develop the leader-ship and communication skills necessary for their positions. The importance of such leader-ship roles is echoed in the position statement Teaching All Children to Read: The Roles of the Reading Specialist (International Reading Association, 2000). Thus, in any reading spe-cialist certification program, there is a need for experiences that focus on leadership dimensions such as developing communication and interper-sonal skills, working with groups, providing ef-fective professional development, and serving as a coach in the school. These skills may require
practica beyond that provided in a clinical set-ting and necessitate experiences in a classroom or school. Candidates may be required to work with school professionals, work with tutors such as those in America Read programs, or plan workshops for parents. In addition, standards at the state level for reading specialist certification may need to be more explicit in their call for leadership skills, thus requiring universities or colleges preparing reading specialists to modify their programs to include such experiences.
Those employing reading specialists need to think carefully about how the position is de-scribed and about what qualifications should be required of the individuals selected for that po-sition. Even if the candidate is going to spend almost the entire day in an instructional role, the individual’s ability to interact with classroom teachers, parents, and other adults is critical to his or her success. Therefore, school adminis-trators must be confident that the candidate has the ability to work well with other adults and an interest in fulfilling the resource role of the read-ing specialist—in addition to providread-ing special-ized instruction to struggling readers.
The support of school administrators is crit-ical to the success of reading specialists. Without the flexible scheduling that enables reading spe-cialists to perform in the many aspects of their position, they and their classroom colleagues will have little opportunity to plan, interact, and affect the reading performance of students sub-stantially. It is the principal who can encourage the reading specialist and classroom teacher to focus on improving quality classroom teaching. When principals and other administrators un-derstand the role of reading specialists, they can establish a climate in which reading specialists work collaboratively with others in the school.
Finally, the results of this work speak direct-ly to reading specialists themselves. The instruc-tional role is an important one: Reading specialists can have a direct impact on the read-ing performance of individual students, they can serve as models for classroom teachers, and they can establish their credibility as caring, compe-tent teachers. The instructional role, however, is essential, but not sufficient. Reading specialists must recognize the importance of the leadership and resource roles they serve and be willing to move beyond the instructional role in order to
make a difference in the reading performance of all students in the school.
Authors’note: This manuscript was developed in response to a charge to the Commission on the Role of the Reading Specialist, appointed by the Board of Directors, International Reading Association. Members of the Commission were instrumental in providing ideas and feedback about this work. Members included Melinda J. Beckwith, Lillian K. Boyd, Camille L. Blachowicz, Jack Cassidy, Judith Earle Grumet, Rebecca Hamilton, Nelda S. Hensley, Jane Matanzo, Alicia A. Moreyra, Diana J. Quatroche, Dorothy S. Shelton, MaryEllen Vogt, Dave Wallace, Sandra R. Wallis, and Rita Bean, chair.
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