The Kentucky Reading Research Center is proud to announce the creation of an Advisory Board comprising six of the nation’s foremost experts in scientifically based reading research. These distinguished scholars bring decades of experience and leadership to support the center’s mission of advancing evidence-based literacy practices in Kentucky and beyond. Their expertise will help guide the center’s efforts to provide accessible resources and insights for educators, families, and policymakers.
The Advisory Board members include:
Dr. Michael Coyne, Professor of Special Education at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, Head of the Department of Educational Psychology, and Co-Director of the Center for Behavioral Education and Research. His research focuses on beginning reading instruction and intervention, multi-tiered systems of support, school-based experimental research, and effective practices for students with learning disabilities. Coyne has directed multiple grants and contracts funded by the U.S. Department of Education and is currently a Principal Investigator of the National Research Network on Integrated MTSS.
Dr. Holly Lane, the Irving and Rose Fien Professor of Education at the University of Florida and Director of the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI). Her research focuses on the prevention of reading difficulties through effective early literacy instruction, the remediation of literacy skills for students with dyslexia, and methods for helping preservice and practicing teachers develop the knowledge and skills they need to be effective reading teachers and interventionists. Lane has directed many grants to support reading research and the development of teachers and researchers. She is also the author of numerous literacy-related publications, including UFLI Foundations: An Explicit and Systematic Phonics Program.
Dr. David Paige, Professor of Literacy and Director of the Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic at Northern Illinois University. His research and school-based work in literacy spans the K-12 continuum, where he has worked extensively with schools and districts to implement research-supported instruction, or SOR, in the early and later elementary grades, middle grades, and secondary years. He conducts numerous professional development sessions for districts, states, regional educational agencies, and non-profit groups on reading-related topics, including foundational skills, fluency development, text implementation, critical thinking, and knowledge development. Additionally, he has engaged in numerous school- and district-based reading improvement initiatives in Kentucky and several other states. He sits on the advisory council for the Tennessee Early Literacy Council that advises the Tennessee Department of Education on its Reading 360 Initiative.
Dr. Deborah Reed, Director of the Tennessee Reading Research Center and a Professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. She has worked for more than 20 years on technical assistance and research projects exploring and implementing evidence-based literacy instruction and assessment practices. She served at the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University and the Iowa Reading Research Center at the University of Iowa. Reed also led the production of teacher training modules that have been completed by over 12,000 educators to date and leads evaluations of the impact of in-service teacher professional development on students’ literacy outcomes and the implementation of new literacy modules in educator preparation programs in Tennessee. She has been awarded over $25 million from diverse funding sources, including the Institute of Education Sciences, multiple state education agencies, and private foundations.
Dr. Sharon Vaughn, the Manuel J. Justiz Endowed Chair in Education and executive director of The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at the University of Texas at Austin. A key stakeholder in developing and empirically validating effective reading instruction across the developmental continuum, she has extensive experience as PI of U.S. Department of Education and National Institute of Child and Human Development-funded research. She has received over $150 million in federal grant funds, including as a grantee in the Institute for Education Sciences Reading for Understanding initiative that was at the forefront of the field’s work on the science of reading.
Dr. Jade Wexler, a Professor of Special Education in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on improving literacy outcomes for secondary students with reading difficulties and disabilities via teacher professional development and the establishment of sustainable school-wide literacy models. She has been the principal investigator and co-principal investigator on several federally funded adolescent literacy-focused grants totaling approximately $8 million.
“We are incredibly pleased and proud to welcome these distinguished experts to our Advisory Board,” said Dr. Amy Lingo, Executive Director of the Kentucky Reading Research Center. “Their extensive knowledge and commitment to improving literacy outcomes will be invaluable as we work to close achievement gaps and support all Kentucky learners.”
