Knowledge Building, Vocabulary, and Comprehension: Turn Up the Volume of Reading

About the Presenters

David Liben has 50 years of experience in education. He’s taught grades five to nine, been the founding principal of the public school in New York City which he started with his wife, Meredith, and taught graduate education classes and undergraduates at Community College of Vermont. David synthesized the research behind the Common Core Standards and has been working with states, districts, and publishers around the country and the world on improving reading practices since.

Meredith Liben taught for over 25 years and has been collaborating with her husband, David, on reading reform for the past 35. She led literacy work for Student Achievement Partners for a decade after coordinating the text complexity research for the Common Core State Standards. She and David wrote Know Better, Do Better: Teaching the Foundations So Every Child Can Read, a bestseller in professional books on foundational reading, in 2019.

Dr. Amanda Alexander serves as Scholastic’s Chief Academic Officer. In this role, she leads research and validation efforts to ensure the efficacy of products, the delivery of professional learning services, and the company’s partnership with the Yale Child Study Center, focusing on the intersection of literacy and health. Before joining Scholastic, Dr. Alexander served as the Vice President of Policy and Partnership Development at Teachstone. With more than 20 years of progressive leadership experience, the majority of Dr. Alexander’s service has been as a practitioner in the public sector. She has a B.A. in English and an M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from Howard University, an M.S.Ed. in educational leadership from Baruch College, and a Ph.D. in education from American University.