To the Classroom: Conversations with Researchers & Educators

My guest today is Dr. Leigh Patel who is a transdisciplinary scholar whose research focuses on both the ways schooling delivers inequities and how education can be a tool for liberation. She is the author of Decolonizing Educational Research. We’ll be discussing an essay she published last fall on decolonizing.net. In the second part of the episode I’m joined by my colleague Shawna Coppola, author of the new book Literacy For All.

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For a transcript and more information about the podcast and host Jennifer Serravallo: www.jennniferserravallo.com/podcast

Read Dr. Patel's Essay here.

Learn more about Shawna's book here.

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About Dr. Leigh Patel:

Dr. Leigh Patel is an interdisciplinary researcher, educator, writer, and is the Associate Dean for Equity and Justice in Education at the University of Pittsburgh. She works extensively with societally marginalized youth and teacher activists. Patel is a recipient of the June Jordan Award for scholarly leadership and poetic bravery in social critique and is a national board member of Education for Liberation, a long-standing organization dedicated to transformative education for and by youth of color. She is the author of Youth Held at the Border and Decolonizing Educational Research. Connect with her on Twitter at @lipatel.

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Today’s guest is the brilliant Zaretta Hammond, author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. We’ll talk about the science behind her recommended “six core design principles” that she calls “culturally responsive brain rules”. Later, I’m joined by my colleague Jerry Maraia for a continued conversation about practical takeaways. 

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To learn more about Jennifer Serravallo: www.jenniferserravallo.com
To read a transcript of this episode: www.jenniferserravallo.com/podcast
Learn more about Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Zaretta Hammond's book

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Zaretta Hammond is a former classroom English teacher who has been doing instructional design, school coaching, and professional development around the issues of equity, literacy, and culturally responsive teaching for the past 18 years.  She teaches as a lecturer at St. Mary’s College’s Kalmanovitz School of in Moraga, California.

In addition to consulting and professional development, she has been on staff at national education reform organizations, including the National Equity Project and the former Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC).  She has trained instructional coaches in reading development, especially targeted at students of color and English learners.  She has also designed national seminars such as the three-day Teaching with A Cultural Eye series for teachers and school leaders. She is regularly invited to present at regional and national conferences. She has authored articles that have appeared in publications such as Phi Delta Kappan.

Along with a focus on culturally responsive teaching, Ms. Hammond has a strong research agenda around literacy, vocabulary development, and equity. She has designed culturally responsive tutor training programs aimed at volunteer reading tutors for a variety of non-profit organizations. She currently designing a literacy program to accelerate low reading skills among high school students. She holds a Masters in Secondary English Education.

She also writes the popular ready4rigor.com blog.  Zaretta is the proud parent of two young adult children, both of whom she taught to read before they went to school. She resides in Berkeley, CA with her husband and family. 

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My guest today is Dr. Leala Holcomb, a researcher of deaf education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who accepted my invitation to teach us all about what true equity and inclusion looks like when supporting deaf children’s language and literacy development. At Dr. Holcomb’s request, I interviewed them in writing via a collaborative online document, and I have hired a voice actor, Ginna Hoben, to read Dr. Holcomb’s words for this podcast interview. As with all episodes, a transcript of this episode is available at my website, JenniferSerravallo.com/podcast.

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To read a transcript and see the instructional videos referenced in the episode: www.jenniferserravallo.com/podcast (and click on the thumbnail of this episode).

For more about Dr. Holcomb: https://www.lealaholcomb.com/

To read more about being deaf in a mainstream school, Dr. Holcomb recommends Rachel Zemach's book The Butterfly Cage and her website.

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Leala is a researcher of deaf education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Lealawas a former educator of deaf children in an early childhood program, which inspired the creation of Hands Land. Hands Land is a non-profit organization that promotes language play through signed rhyme and rhythm. Leala has collaborated on initiatives in Viet Nam, Hong Kong, Morocco, and Rwanda as the deaf education expert. Leala providesprofessional development to teachers nationally and internationally on a wide range of topics pertaining to deaf education. Leala is currently a Co-Editor of the special issue, “Translanguaging in Deaf Communities” in the Languages journal and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education journal. Leala won several awards for their work as an early career researcher and got invited to be a keynote presenter at several conferences. Leala is specifically interested in exploring deaf-centered ways of teaching and learning.

Thank you to Alex Rose for audio editing this episode.

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An end-of-year announcement from Jen Serravallo, host of To the Classroom Podcast. 

Listen to any episodes you missed, or read a full transcript at jenniferserravallo.com/podcast

Please rate or review the show to support!

More episodes in Jan 2024.

My guest today is Chris Wenz, researcher and teacher, whose dissertation focused on profiles of adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders. We begin our conversation with an understanding of the diverse profiles of autistic individuals, and move into a conversation about considerations for literacy assessment and teaching. In the second part of the episode I’m joined by my colleague Elisha Li, a former elementary inclusion teacher, to discuss practical takeaways. 

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Read a full transcript of this episode and learn more about the show at

https://www.jenniferserravallo.com/podcast 

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Follow Dr. Chris Wenz on Twitter @ChrisWenz8

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More about this episode’s guest:

Chris Wenz, PhD, is a researcher and teacher educator at the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT). His recent work has focused on adolescent literacy and literacy instruction for students with disabilities. His dissertation on reading profiles of adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder is supported by grants from the International Literacy Association and the Connecticut Association for Reading Research. Chris previously worked in the Boston Public Schools as an AmeriCorps volunteer, and as a residential dean and humanities instructor at Franklin Academy, a high school for students with autism and nonverbal learner differences.

Special thanks to Alex Van Rose for audio editing this episode. 

Support this show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TotheClassroom

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Karen Harris

My guest today is Dr. Karen Harris who joins us to talk about the role of strategy instruction for qualities of good writing such as focus, organization, and detail, as well as strategies for self-regulation. We’ll also discuss a recently-published meta-analysis she coauthored focused on effective professional development for teachers. I’m joined by my colleagues Lea Leibowitz and Lainie Powell in the second half of the episode where we’ll discuss practical strategies for writing you can use right away in the classroom, as well as our takeaways as leaders of professional development. 

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Read a full transcript of this episode and learn more about the show at

https://www.jenniferserravallo.com/podcast 

More on Self-Regulated Strategy Development

Practice-Based Professional Development for Self-Regulated Strategies Development

Effects of SRSD 

Scoring Through Rubrics

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More about Dr. Karen Harris: 

Dr. Karen R. Harris is the Mary Emily warner professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. She has worked in the field of education for over 40 years, initially as a general education teacher and then as a special education teacher. Throughout her teaching and research career, she has chosen to work in highly diverse schools in low income areas due to her commitment to improving teaching and learning for all students. Her research focuses on informing and improving theory, research, and practice related to writing development among students with high incidence disabilities, students who struggle with writing, and normally achieving students.

She is interested in validating instructional approaches for heterogeneous classrooms derived from integrating multiple, evidence-based theories. Karen Harris’ research focuses on theoretically based interventions for the development of academic and self-regulation abilities among students who are at-risk and those with disabilities, as well as effective models of in-service teacher preparation for writing instruction for all students. In addition, she investigates approaches to professional development on evidence-based practices in writing that result in sustainable changes in the quality of writing instruction.

Special thanks to Alex Van Rose for audio editing this episode. 

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My guest today is Dr. Steve Graham, who has, for over 40 years, studied how writing develops, how to teach it effectively, and how writing can be used to support reading and learning. We'll discuss some of his research around reading and writing reciprocity, and we'll learn about writing instructional practices that have the strongest evidence, as published in his lES practice guides, available on What Works Clearinghouse.

Transcript & More about the show: https://www.jenniferserravallo.com/podcast 
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Steve Graham's research involves typically developing writers and students with special needs in both elementary and secondary schools, with much of occurring in classrooms in urban schools.  

Graham is the former editor of Exceptional Children, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Journal of Writing Research, Focus on Exceptional Children, and Journal of Educational Psychology. He is the co-author of the "Handbook of Writing Research," "Handbook of Learning Disabilities," "APA Handbook of Educational Psychology," "Writing Better," "Powerful Writing Strategies for all Students" and "Making the Writing Process Work." He is also the author of three influential Carnegie Corporation reports: Writing Next , Writing to Read , and Informing Writing.

Graham has served as an advisor to a variety of organization, including UNESCO, National Institute of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Zuckerberg Initiative, National Writing Project, Institute of Educational Sciences, the College Board, and the What Works Clearinghouse. He was the chair of the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guides for both elementary as well as secondary writing. Steve was a member of the National Research Conference committee on adolescent and adult literacy. He has provided background information for a wide variety of magazine, newspaper, television, and radio reports including National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, La Monde, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, National Public Radio, CBS Sunday Moring News, and NBC Today Show.

He is the recipient of the Thorndike Career Award from Division 15 of the American Psychological Association, Sylvia Scribner Award from Division C of the American Educational Research Association, William S. Gray citation of merit from the International Literacy Association, John S. Nesbit Fellowship from the British Educational Research Association, Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education from Division K of the American Educational Research Award, Career Research Award from the International Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the Kauffman-Hallahan Distinguished Researcher Award from the Division of Research (CEC), Jeannette Fleischner Career Leadership Award from the Division of Learning Disabilities (CEC), Samual A. Kirk Award from the Division of Learning Disabilities (CEC), Distinguished Researcher Award from the Special Education Special Interest Group of the American Education Research Association, J. Lee Weiderhot Lecture Award from the Council of Learning Disabilities, and the Don Johnston Literacy Lectureship Award for career contributions to literacy. He was elected to the Reading Hall of Fame for 2018.

Graham is a fellow of the American Educational Research Association, Division 15 of the American Psychological Association, as well as a fellow of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities.

Special thanks to Alex Van Rose for audio editing this episode. 

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Today's guest is none other than THE Dr. P David Pearson. Usually I approach guests with a topic in mind, but because Dr. Pearson had just written on just about every topic there is to write about in the field of literacy education, I asked him what he wanted to discuss. He said: "how to design an ideal literacy block aligned to research." I love the topic and I hope you will too. As always, I'm joined by colleagues in the second half of the episode today. It's Gina Dignon and Macie Kerbs to talk about practical takeaways for the classroom. It's a long episode, but worth every minute.

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Click to read a full transcript of this episode, and learn more about the show, and Jennifer Serravallo. 

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P. David Pearson is an emeritus faculty member in the School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as Dean from 2001-2010. His current research focuses on literacy history and policy. He also holds an appointment as a Professor of the Graduate School and is the Evelyn Lois Corey Emeritus Chair in Instructional Science.

Prior to coming to Berkeley in 2001, he served as the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Education in the College of Education at Michigan State and as Co-Director of the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. Even earlier, he was Dean of the College of Education, Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Reading, and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois.  His initial professorial appointment was at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis from 1969-1978.

He has been active in professional organizations, serving ILA and  NCTE in many capacities (including the IRA Board of Directors and currently Chair of the Research Panel), both the NRC and NCRE as President, and the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education as a member of the Board.  

Awards include the 1989 Oscar Causey Award for outstanding contributions to reading research from the NRC and the 1990 William S.Gray Citation of Merit. for his contributions to theory, research, and practice from the IRA. In 2004, he received the Alan Purves Award from NCTE for the Research in Teaching Englisharticle most likely to influence practice, and in 2005, the Albert J. Harris Award from IRA for scholarship on reading difficulties.  In 2006, the University of Minnesota honored him with the Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award, the highest non-academic award given at the University, for his contributions to educational research and practice. In 2010, he received the AERA Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award.  In 2003, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Education (NAE) and in 2009 to membership as a Fellow of the AERA.  In 2012, the Literacy Research Association (formerly the NRC) created the P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award to honor scholarship that impacts literacy practice. 

His 300+ books, articles and chapters, written with over 300 co-authors, appear in a range of outlets for a wide range of audiences—teachers, scholars, and policy makers.

Professor Pearson received his B.A. in History from the UCBerkeley, after which he taught elementary school in California and went on to complete his Ph.D. in Reading Education at the U of Minnesota.  He completed post-doctoral study at the U of Texas, Austin and Stanford University. 

Special thanks to Alex Van Rose for audio editing this episode. 

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My guest today is Dr. H. Richard Milner, author of the recent Reading Research Quarterly article titled “Disrupting Racism and Whiteness in Researching a Science of Reading” and the new book The Race Card. We talk about the importance of drawing from a wide range of types of research in designing our literacy classrooms, the multiple literacies we should be developing in young people, and what effective leadership looks like in this time. 

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Read a full transcript of this episode and learn more about the show here

Follow Dr. H. Richard Milner on Twitter @MilnerHRich

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More about this episode’s guest:

H. Richard Milner IV is currently, the Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Education and Professor of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Professor Milner spent five years as Helen Faison Endowed Chair of Urban Education, Professor of Education, and by courtesy Professor of Sociology, Professor of Social Work, and Professor of Africana Studies as well as Director of the Center for Urban Education at the University of Pittsburgh.  Professor Milner began his career at Vanderbilt University where, in 2008, he became the first Black person to earn promotion and tenure in the entire College of Education’s history. His research, teaching and policy interests concern urban education, teacher education, African American literature, and the social context of education.  In particular, Professor Milner’s research examines practices and policies that support teacher effectiveness in urban schools.    

Professor Milner’s work has appeared in numerous journals, and he has published seven books. His book, published in 2010 by Harvard Education Press, is: Start where you are but don’t stay there: Understanding diversity, opportunity gaps, and teaching in today’s classrooms, which represents years of research and development effort. The book is widely read in teacher education programs and school districts across the United States of America.  This book has been recognized with two major awards: (1) the 2012 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Outstanding Book Award, and (2) a 2011 American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Book Award. He is also author of The Race Card  in 2023 by Corwin Press.. In 2017, Professor Milner became the founding Series Editor of the Harvard Education Press Series on Race and Education.

In 2006, Professor Milner received an Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association.  Over the last five years, Professor Milner has appeared on the top 200 Edu-Scholar Public Presence Ranking, published by Education Week.

Currently, he is Editor-in-chief of Urban Education and co-editor of the Handbook of Urban Education, published with Routledge Press in 2014. In the fall of 2015, the Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education assigned his book, Rac(e)ing to Class, to all incoming graduate students and invited alumni across the world to read the book. He was then invited to deliver a prestigious Askwith Lecture at Harvard University, where he discussed research and findings from his book.

Special thanks to Alex Van Rose for audio editing this episode. 

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My guest today is Dr. Laura Ascenzi-Moreno, a NYC-based scholar who studies bi and multi-lingual education. She has several papers about reading assessment practices and considerations for students who speak multiple languages. We also discuss reader models such as the Simple View and Active View, and which are more aligned with biliteracy research, and considerations for phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension instruction for bi and multilingual learners. Later, I’m joined by my colleagues Angie Forero and Cristy Rauseo for a conversation about practical takeaways for the classroom. 

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Read a full transcript of this episode and learn more about the show at

https://www.jenniferserravallo.com/podcast 

Learn more about Laura Ascenzi Moreno:  

https://www.lascenzimoreno.com/ 

Twitter @AscenziMoreno

More on Ideologies in Assessment of Emergent Bilinguals

The Active View of Reading

Literacy Foundations for English Learners

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More about this episode’s guest:

Laura Ascenzi-Moreno is an Assistant Professor and Bilingual Program Coordinator in the Childhood, Bilingual, and Special Education Department at Brooklyn College. She received her doctorate in Urban Education from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2012. Prior to becoming a professor, she was a dual language, bilingual teacher and coach in New York City public schools for more than a decade. She was also an Associate Investigator for the City University of New York New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals (CUNY-NYSIEB) from 2012-16. Her publications can be found in Literacy Research and Instruction, Language and Education, Schools: Studies in Education, and Language Arts.

Ascenzi-Moreno is a bilingual literacy researcher and teacher educator who studies literacy instruction and learning of emergent bilinguals – or students who use two or more languages in their daily lives. Her work is focused on understanding the connection between ideologies and practice and in particular, in examining how monolingual spaces within literacy instruction – such as assessment, guided reading, and the use of mentor texts – can be centered on emergent bilinguals’ multilingual and multimodal practices. Through her research and work with teachers, she also continues to develop and refine how bilingual theories can contribute to an understanding of reading in general.

Her focus in bilingual education is not on the promotion of languages and competencies. While these are important, her research agenda and work in schools is focused on emergent bilinguals’ literacy experiences and how these are related equity. As an applied bilingual researcher and teacher educator, she strives for her research to emerge from questions emerging from practice and contributes back to the field by helping teachers both think about emergent bilinguals in new ways to shape literacy instruction. Therefore, she works to ensure that her research addresses the authentic and urgent needs and concerns of teachers in the field and is relevant to the national community of bilingual scholars. 

Special thanks to Alex Van Rose for audio editing. 

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