Russell Gersten, Ph.D., is President of RG Research Group and Executive Direc- tor of Instructional Research Group in Long Beach, California, as well as profes- sor emeritus in the College for Education at the University of Oregon. Dr. Gersten is a nationally recognized expert on ef- fective instructional practices to improve reading comprehension (both for narrative and expository text) and has extensive ex- perience with the process of translating research into classroom practice. He has led the teams responsible for developing observational measures for reading com- prehension and vocabulary instruction for several large-scale randomized control tri- als on the impact of observed practices in reading instruction on growth in reading. He is an expert in instructional strategies for improving reading comprehension, adaptations of the reading research-base for English language learner students, and longitudinal evaluation of reading pro- grams. He has directed numerous imple- mentation studies, large-scale evaluation projects, and randomized trial studies in the field of reading, with a focus on low- income students and English learners. Additionally, he chaired a panel of ex- pert researchers for the National Center for Learning Disabilities in June 2005 to synthesize knowledge of best practices in early screening and intervention for stu- dents with difficulties in mathematics. Donald L. Compton, Ph.D.,is an associ- ate professor of Special Education at Pea- body College, Vanderbilt University. Before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt, Dr. Comp- ton taught at the University of Arkansas- Fayetteville and spent a year as a post- doctoral research fellow at the Institute for Behavior Genetics at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he worked with
Dick Olson to analyze data from the twin sample of the Colorado Learning Disabili- ties Research Center. Dr. Compton teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in instructional principles and procedures in reading and writing for students with disabilities. His research involves model- ing individual differences in the develop- ment of reading skills in children. He is currently the primary investigator on an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) project addressing the key measurement issues associated with the Response-to-Interven- tion (RtI) approach to identifying learning difficulties.
Carol McDonald Connor, Ph.D., is an as- sociate professor at Florida State Univer- sity and a research faculty member of the Florida Center for Reading Research. She completed her Ph.D. in Education and was an assistant research scientist in Psychol- ogy at University of Michigan prior to com- ing to Florida State. Dr. Connor’s research interests focus on children’s learning in the classroom from preschool through grade 3 and the complex relationships between children’s language and literacy skills. She was recently awarded the 2006 President’s Early Career Award for Sci- entists and Engineers and the 2007 APA Richard Snow Award. She is the principal investigator of two studies funded by the Institute of Education Sciences and the Na- tional Institute of Child Health and Human Development examining the causal effects of individualizing language arts instruc- tion for students in grades 1–3 based on their language and reading skills.
Joseph A. Dimino, Ph.D., is a research as- sociate at the Instructional Research Group in Long Beach, California where he is the coordinator of a national research project investigating the impact of Teacher Study Groups as a means to enhance the qual- ity of reading instruction for first graders in high poverty schools and co-principal investigator for a study assessing the im- pact of collaborative strategic reading on
APPENDIx B. ABOUT THE AUTHORS
the comprehension and vocabulary skills of English language learner and English- speaking fifth graders. Dr. Dimino has 36 years of experience as a general educa- tion teacher, special education teacher, administrator, behavior specialist, and researcher. He has extensive experience working with teachers, parents, admin- istrators, and instructional assistants in the areas of instruction and early literacy, reading comprehension strategies, and classroom and behavior management in urban, suburban, and rural communities. He has published in numerous scholarly journals and coauthored books in reading comprehension and early reading inter- vention. Dr. Dimino has delivered papers at various state, national, and interna- tional conferences, including the Ameri- can Educational Research Association, the National Reading Conference, and the Council for Exceptional Children and As- sociation for Supervision and Curriculum Development. He consults nationally in the areas of early literacy and reading compre- hension instruction.
Lana Edwards Santoro, Ph.D., is a re- search associate with the Instructional Research Group/RG Research Group and the Pacific Institutes for Research. She is a principal investigator on a series of IES–funded research on teaching reading comprehension to grade 1 students dur- ing classroom read-alouds. Of particular focus is her work to develop supplemental interventions for students at risk of early reading difficulties, students with vocab- ulary and language deficits, and English- language learners. She also serves as prin- cipal investigator on an IES–funded study investigating the impact of enhanced core reading instruction (tier 1) on the early literacy achievement of Spanish-speaking English language learners in transitional bilingual programs. Dr. Santoro consults with state, local, and private agencies on a variety of projects, including training presentations on effective instructional strategies, program development related
to RtI and school improvement, and read- ing program evaluation. She has published extensively on the effects of research- based strategies on student reading. Her research has been recognized with awards from the Council for Exceptional Children and the American Educational Research Association.
Sylvia Linan-Thompson, Ph.D., is an associate professor at The University of Texas in Austin. Her research interests include development of reading inter- ventions for struggling readers who are monolingual English speakers, English language learner and bilingual students acquiring Spanish literacy. She is co-prin- cipal investigator of several longitudinal studies funded by IES and the National Institute of Child Health and Human De- velopment examining the language and literacy development in English and Span- ish for Spanish-speaking children and the efficacy of a three-tier model of reading intervention in general education class- rooms and in bilingual classrooms. She has authored curricular programs, book chapters, journal articles, and a book on reading instruction.
W. David Tilly III, Ph.D., is the Coordi- nator of Assessment Services at Heartland Area Education Agency. He has worked as a practicing school psychologist, a univer- sity trainer, a state department of educa- tion consultant and as an administrator in Iowa. He participated in the leader- ship of Iowa’s transformation to using RtI practices and has extensive experience working with districts, intermediate agen- cies, states, and professional organiza- tions on the implementation of RtI. His research interests include implementing system change, instructional interven- tions, formative assessment, and translat- ing research into practice. He coauthored a widely used publication on RtI for the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.
APPENDIx B. ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Staff
Rebecca A. Newman-Gonchar, Ph.D., is a research associate with the Instructional Research Group/RG Research Group. She has experience in project management, study design and implementation, and quantitative and qualitative analysis. Dr. Newman-Gonchar has worked extensively on the development of observational mea- sures for beginning and expository read- ing instruction for two major IES–funded studies of reading interventions for Title I students. She currently serves as a re- viewer for the What Works Clearinghouse for reading and mathematics interven- tions and Response to Intervention. Her scholarly contributions include concep- tual, descriptive, and quantitative publi- cations on a range of topics. Her current interests include Response to Interven- tion, observation measure development for reading and mathematics instruction, and Teacher Study Groups. She has served as the technical editor for several publica- tions and is a reviewer for Learning Dis- abilities Quarterly.
Kristin Hallgren is a research analyst at Mathematica Policy Research and a former classroom educator. She has provided re- search support for several IES–sponsored practice guides, including the dropout pre- vention practice guide, this Response to Intervention reading and multi-tier inter- ventions practice guide, and other forth- coming practice guides. She has conducted classroom observations and data analy- sis for IES–sponsored projects related to teacher quality and professional develop- ment including rigorous evaluations of teacher preparation routes and high-inten- sity teacher induction programs. She has also been responsible for communicating complex research design methodologies to district and school-level administrators for rigorous evaluations of supplemental edu- cational services and mathematics curri- cula. Ms. Hallgren’s expertise in classroom practices and background in research methodology has provided the panel with support for translating research principles into practitioner friendly text.