RFTEN/ATE Conference Round Up:
February 19-20, 2006

RFTEN faculty, deans and consultants helped kick off the annual meeting of the Association of Teacher Educators with a 2 1/2 hour professional clinic on Sunday, Feb. 19, showcasing reading instruction and successful RFTEN project models. RFTEN faculty and deans also conducted a workshop on Monday, Feb. 20. Dr. Charles Hodge, a RFTEN Quality Assurance Coaching Consultant, served as facilitator for both the professional clinic and workshop. The RFTEN team also presented a series of interactive instructional sessions for nearly 100 pre-service teachers from Virginia Union University (a RFTEN/NCATE institution), Georgia State University, and from other Georgia-area colleges and universities. Dr. Shirley Winstead, a RFTEN Quality Assurance Coaching Consultant, served as the facilitator for the RFTEN portion of the Pre-Service Strand.

Presentations from RFTEN/ATE Professional Clinic, Workshop and Pre-Service Teacher Strand

Ms. Erica Simon, RFTEN Project Consultant
Topic: Reading and Reading Achievement Overview

Erica Simon was the 2004-2005 RFTEN Project Manager at the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts. She now is the Reading First technical assistance provider for the Louisiana and Michigan state departments of Education and contracts with NCATE to help coordinate the professional development aspects of the 2005-2006 Reading First Teacher Education Network project.

Prior to serving in these roles, past projects at the Vaughn Gross Center include coordinating a federal research study to examine ways to implement a school wide reading improvement model, co-authoring a two-day institute for elementary teachers of struggling readers, providing professional development training in reading strategies to teachers across the country, and providing reading intervention to 4th and 5th grade English language learners with learning disabilities. Simon is a regularly presents at national conferences in the area of reading, particularly reading instruction for struggling readers, will complete her Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Texas at Austin in April of 2006, and has published articles in peer-reviewed journals relating to special education and reading instruction.

Download the Presentation (PowerPoint)