About the Presenters

Tim Odegard, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology and holds the Katherine Davis Murfree Chair of Excellence in Dyslexic Studies at Middle Tennessee State University. He also leads the efforts of the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Dyslexia, as a consulting editor of the Journal of Learning Disabilities, and is a former editor at large for Perspectives on Language and Literacy. In addition to being a research scientist, Dr. Odegard is a reading therapist, having completed a two-year dyslexia specialist training program at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas.

Jennifer Zoski, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a Staff Learning Scientist at Amplify where she serves as a subject-matter expert in the areas of language and literacy and is involved in the development and ongoing research of instructional programs and interventions targeting students in the elementary grades. Prior to joining Amplify, Dr. Zoski worked as a speech-language pathologist with a focus on supporting students with language delays and disorders. Dr. Zoski’s research has appeared in Communication Disorders Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, and Applied Psycholinguistics.

Deni Basaraba, Ph.D. is a Manager of Learning Science at Amplify where she serves as a subject-matter expert in Spanish and English literacy development and guides the development and ongoing research of assessments and instructional programs focused on Spanish literacy and biliteracy development in the elementary grades. Prior to joining Amplify, Dr. Basaraba worked as a school district data analyst and as a researcher coordinating the development of mathematics assessments for use in Grades K-8. Dr. Basaraba is an editorial board member for Assessment for Effective Instruction and Frontiers in Education and her research has appeared in multiple peer-reviewed research journals, such as The Bilingual Research Journal, Assessment for Effective Intervention, and School Psychology Review.