OXFORD, Miss. – A reading conference for elementary school
administrators and teachers Monday (March 3) at the
University of Mississippi is to address issues related to
instructing diverse learners in reading.
The inaugural “Reaching Our Diverse Learners” conference,
coordinated by the university’s Center for Excellence in
Literacy Instruction, “is designed to assist teachers and
administrators in providing research-based instructional
strategies to help students learn to read more
effectively,” said Angela Rutherford, CELI director and
assistant professor of elementary education.
“This is the first conference sponsored by the new center,
and it’s the only reading conference of its type in north
Mississippi,” Rutherford said. “We hope to address issues
related to instructing diverse learners as these learners
negotiate the tasks of learning to read and reading to
learn.”
The conference is limited to 100 attendees and the fee is
$75. For more information or to register online, visit
http://www.outreach.olemiss.edu/celi/.
Robert Cooter Jr., distinguished professor of urban
literacy research at the University of Memphis, delivers
the keynote address at 9 a.m. His research focus pertains
to research-based reading instruction for children living
in poverty.
“We are pleased to have Dr. Cooter at Ole Miss,” said Tom
Burnham, dean of the School of Education. “I am impressed
with his comprehensive view for improving school literacy
programs because he clearly defines the principal’s role as
instructional leader in the improvement process.”
Cooter is co-editor of “The Reading Teacher,” the largest
literacy education journal in the world. He founded the
award-winning Memphis Literacy Academy, an outreach program
in Memphis City Schools dedicated to raising the expertise
of hundreds of inner-city teachers of reading. He is author
of the best-selling “Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher
Makes the Difference,” an evidence-based reading text used
at more than 200 universities.
The conference also includes a luncheon featuring an
address by Claiborne Barksdale, CEO of the Barksdale
Reading Institute in Oxford, and presentation of the CELI
Children’s Literature Award to children’s author Laurie
Parker of Starkville. The institute was endowed by Jim and
Sally Barksdale in 2000 to work with Mississippi public
schools to improve the reading skills of students in
pre-kindergarten through third grade.
Afternoon conference sessions are to address assessment,
comprehension, early literacy, vocabulary and literature.
The goals of CELI are focused in four broad areas while
concentrating on literacy development in rural, low
socioeconomic areas. These goals include pre-service and
in-service teacher development, community outreach, service
to school districts and scholarly research. Established in
2007, CELI is funded through a Robert M. Hearin Foundation
grant.
For more information about the conference, contact Angela
Rutherford at 662-915-7625. For assistance related to a
disability, call 662-915-7847.