Presented by Martha Hougen, Ph.D., National Consultant and Author, Educator Preparation and Reading Instruction; Center for Effective Reading Instruction, Board of Directors; and Higher Education Faculty Collaboratives, Former Director; and Susan Smartt, Ph.D., National Literacy Consultant, Author, Tutor and Advocate for Students with Dyslexia, and former Senior Research Associate, National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

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The more knowledge and effective tools teachers have, the more successful readers and writers their students become.

In this edWebinar, Martha Hougen, Ph.D., and Susan Smartt, Ph.D., discusses the science of reading research and how the research informs effective literacy instruction for all students. The essential components of literacy and how to integrate features of effective instruction will be presented along with explicit instructional strategies, scripted lesson plans, and online resources.

Dr. Hougen and Dr. Smartt highlight the connection of the science of reading to effective structured literacy instruction. Instructional strategies of one essential foundational skill, phonological awareness, will be presented in-depth. For example, modeling of instructional strategies that support phonological awareness and its relationship to orthographic mapping and phonics instruction are provided. Throughout the presentation, Dr. Hougen and Dr. Smartt reference content from their book, Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction & Assessment, Pre-K–6, Second Edition. Unique features of the text, such as reflection activities and direct practice opportunities with students, are noted.

This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to pre-K through middle school teachers, school and district leaders, teacher educators, preservice teacher candidates, and other professionals involved in teaching foundational literacy skills. 

About the Presenters

As a general and special education teacher, public school administrator, and university faculty member, Dr. Hougen has dedicated her work to improve the achievement of students who struggle with learning. She supports teacher educators, teacher candidates, classroom teachers, and specialists to implement the science of literacy.

While working at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at The University of Texas at Austin College of Education, Dr. Hougen led the Higher Education Collaborative (HEC). The HEC provided collaborative and professional development opportunities for teacher educators in literacy throughout Texas. She continued this work on a national scale with the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform Center (CEEDAR Center) at the University of Florida, working with state departments, institutes of higher education, and school districts.

Currently, Dr. Hougen is a national consultant collaborating with state departments and institutes of higher education to improve educator preparation. She also serves on the board of the Center for Effective Reading Instruction.

Dr. Hougen has contributed to numerous professional publications on literacy and teacher education including two textbooks: The Fundamentals of Literacy Assessment & Instruction Pre-K–6, 1st and 2nd editions (2012 and 2020) and The Fundamentals of Literacy Assessment & Instruction 6–12 (2014).

As a senior research associate at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Smartt engaged in research, writing, and teaching focused on improving teacher preparation in reading. Previously, she was a national literacy consultant with state departments, teacher preparation programs, and local school districts focusing on school reform, reading intervention for low-performing schools, using data to inform practice, developing Response to Intervention initiatives, and implementing scientifically-based literacy programs.

Dr. Smartt owned and directed a reading clinic for more than 20 years in which she provided comprehensive psycho-educational assessments, dyslexia evaluations, and tutoring services. She has been a classroom teacher, a reading coach, a reading specialist, and a principal. She was an early contributor to the development of LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) (Moats & Tolman, 2017) and past president of the Tennessee branch of the International Dyslexia Association. Her publications include journal articles, edited volumes, and books on research-based reading intervention and policy initiatives, including Next STEPS in Literacy Instruction: Connecting Assessments to Effective Interventions (Smartt & Glaser, 2010). Currently, Dr. Smartt tutors and provides advocacy services for students with dyslexia.

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