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Science of Reading Week: Literacy Is a Civil Right
Monday, March 25, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm EDT
Presented by LeVar Burton and Liz Brooke, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Chief Learning Officer, Lexia
Moderated by Cassandra Wheeler, Director of LETRS State Success, Lexia
Sponsored by Lexia Learning
We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to sit down with LeVar Burton for an inspiring keynote discussion.
Unfortunately, the session recording is no longer available. Check out the rest of the programs from this Science of Reading Week!
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
Join us to celebrate the start of Science of Reading Week with LeVar Burton! Burton, a beloved actor, director, author, and educator, has taught multiple generations of children about the joys of reading through his work on Reading Rainbow, the most-watched PBS program in the classroom during its 26-year run. He is a passionate advocate for equitable, evidence-based literacy instruction and was the executive producer of the 2023 documentary The Right to Read, which shares the stories of an activist, a teacher, and two American families who fight to provide our youngest generation with reading instruction based on the Science of Reading.
In a live Q&A, Burton joins Dr. Liz Brooke, Lexia Chief Learning Officer, for a discussion on the national literacy crisis, progress in evidence-based literacy instruction, and equitable access to that instruction for all students.
This recorded edWebinar is of interest to PreK-12 teachers, librarians, school and district leaders, and education technology leaders.
This edWebinar is part of Science of Reading Week.
About the Presenters
LeVar Burton is an actor, director, educator, and celebrated host and Executive Producer of the beloved PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow. Airing from 1983 to 2009, Reading Rainbow was not only one of the longest-running children’s television shows in history, but also one of the most acclaimed, earning over 200 awards including multiple Emmys and a Peabody. As a lifelong literacy advocate, Burton has dedicated decades to encouraging children to read. Burton is also the award-winning author of The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, A Kids Book About Imagination, and his Grammy-nominated book, Aftermath.
As Chief Learning Officer of Lexia® Learning, Dr. Liz Brooke is responsible for setting the educational vision for the company’s Language and Literacy products, including the Adaptive Blended Learning (ABL) strategy. She has been with the company for more than 10 years. Prior to joining Lexia, Dr. Brooke served as the Director of Intervention at the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). She has been working in education for more than 25 years. She has worked in hospital, university, and school settings as a speech-language pathologist, researcher, and she began her career as a first-grade teacher. She has been published in several scholarly journals and books. Dr. Brooke shares Lexia’s mission of creating opportunity for every student through the power of literacy education, and it continues to be the driving force behind all her work.
About the Moderator
Cassandra Wheeler is a proud “Poet” of the 1990 graduating class at Sidney Lanier High School of Montgomery Public Schools (MPS) in Alabama. In 1994, following undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in early childhood education, Cassandra returned home to MPS and began her career as an educator at Morningview Elementary School. After earning her master’s degree and administrative certification, Cassandra joined the Alabama Reading Initiative, where she authored Alabama’s Reading First Initiative grant and managed Alabama’s statewide DIBELS pilot. In 2004, after serving the children of Alabama for ten years, Cassandra expanded her outreach to impact the life trajectories of students everywhere by joining the (then) Voyager Expanded Learning organization. Now, at Lexia, Cassandra serves the organization as Director of LETRS State Success.
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Lexia®, a Cambium Learning Group company, is the Structured Literacy expert. For nearly 40 years, the company has focused solely on literacy, and today provides science of reading-based solutions for both students and educators. With robust offerings for differentiated instruction, personalized learning, assessment, and professional learning, Lexia helps more learners read, write, and speak with confidence. For more information, visit www.lexialearning.com.
