Dr. Heidi Beverine-Curry, PhD

Keynote: The Science of Reading is for Everyone
9 – 10:15 a.m.
Hyatt Regency, Imperial Ballroom, Rooms 4, 6 & 8

Follow-up Workshop: 3 Anchors to Ground Critical Shifts in Reading Instruction
10:45 a.m. – noon
Hyatt Regency, Imperial Ballroom, Rooms 4, 6 & 8

Dr. Heidi Beverine-Curry is a co-founder and Chief Academic Officer for The Reading League, where she oversees the Professional Development Department and designs, supervises, and delivers educator learning opportunities for over 60 partnering school districts. Heidi is frequently invited to speak about the Science of Reading and has presented widely at conferences and events across the US and internationally. Before working for The Reading League full-time in 2019, Heidi spent 21 years working in public schools where she made use of her certifications in Elementary Education, K-12 Special Education, and K-12 Reading Education. When Heidi began her doctoral coursework in Reading Education in 2006, she became a champion for evidence-aligned literacy instruction and has led a number of successful reform efforts. Heidi was an adjunct professor at Syracuse University and SUNY Oswego, where she specialized in teaching clinical reading intervention coursework.

Keynote: The Science of Reading is for Everyone

9 – 10:15 a.m.
Hyatt Regency, Imperial Ballroom, Rooms 4, 6 & 8

For nearly half a century, scientific evidence has mounted and converged to tell us how the brain learns to read, why it may struggle, and what we can do about it. Much of this research has happened outside of schools of education, and there has not been a reliable pipeline to get these findings to the people who need it most — educators. Because of this, myths abound and individuals with for-profit interests benefit while two-thirds of our children fail to become proficiently literate. If we accept and embrace the challenge of opening ourselves up to new learning, we stand to maximize our ability to empower our students with literacy and uplift all people in our communities. The Science of Reading is for everyone.

Follow-up Workshop: 3 Anchors to Ground Critical Shifts in Reading Instruction

10:45 a.m. – noon
Hyatt Regency, Imperial Ballroom, Rooms 4, 6 & 8

It takes years to build our professional knowledge about the Science of Reading. No quick fix. No magic bullet. But we can start making decisions today that bring us closer to alignment with the evidence, and closer to delivering on the promise of literacy for all of our students. In this session, educators will learn about three critical frameworks to anchor decision-making around reading instruction, assessment, and data analysis.  We will examine each anchor and discuss the implications for practice. Once we internalize these anchors and they become a part of our educator selves, the way we think about instruction, assessment, and data analysis will be forever changed.

Pam Lougheed-Stack, BEd.

Workshop Session: Word Study — How to Help Students to Read, Spell and Understand longer words
10:45 a.m. – noon
Hyatt Regency, Hearld/Doll Rooms

Pam Lougheed-Stack, BEd. is an educator whose life’s passion has been to support individuals and their families as they tackle literacy, learning, and attention challenges. She has assumed a variety of roles during her teaching career to support diverse learners and has led school-wide initiatives, such as Response to Intervention. Pam has developed expertise in delivering evidence-based literacy instruction and intervention and has presented on the topic of literacy instruction to various groups. In her role as the Literacy & Program Director for LDAA she oversees the Right to Read program and spearheads Science of Reading webinars for educators. She also has a private practice, where she provides literacy intervention to struggling students of all ages.

Workshop Session: Word Study — How to Help Students to Read, Spell and Understand Longer Words

10:45 a.m. – noon
Hyatt Regency, Hearld/Doll Rooms

Knowing a word well means being able to identify its meaningful parts, syllables, and letter-sound correspondences. In this workshop Pam will equip you with concrete strategies to help your students read and spell multi-syllable words and understand the meaning of those difficult content words they encounter in upper elementary and middle School.

Tanya Keto, MEd (School and Applied Psychology)

Spotlight Session: Working with Children with Dyslexia
12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Hyatt Regency, Imperial Ballroom, Rooms 4, 6 & 8

Tanya Keto, MEd (Registered Psychologist #6405 and Permanent Professionally Certified Teacher-AB), has a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta and a Master of Education (Child and Applied School Psychology) from the University of Calgary. She is the Manager of Professional Development and Parent Education for Foothills Academy Society, a leader in Learning Disabilities (LD) since 1979. Tanya has over 20 years of experience working with individuals with LD and ADHD as a teacher, learning strategist, guidance counsellor, and educational psychologist. She now specializes as a school psychologist, adult educator, university instructor, and advocate for individuals with LD and ADHD at school and in the workplace. With a unique ability to combine her real-world experiences with empirically driven practices, Tanya presents from a place of knowledge, empathy, and expertise, making evidence-based information accessible and practical to all participants.

Spotlight Session: Working with Children with Dyslexia

12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Hyatt Regency, Imperial Ballroom, Rooms 4, 6 & 8

Dyslexia occurs in an estimated 5-15% of the population and refers to individuals who display fundamental and often profound difficulties with reading and spelling single words in isolation. This difficulty has a wide range of implications across academic settings and grades including reading comprehension, the development of vocabulary, and the ability to spell and communicate in writing. Educators play a critical role in the trajectory and outcomes of students with Dyslexia, and there is so much we can be doing to help these kids. Join Tanya in this introduction to Dyslexia as she discusses:  

• Red flags
• Diagnosis, statistics, and developmental trajectory of students with Dyslexia
• The language associated with Dyslexia
• Cognitive processes involved in reading
• Evidence-based Tier 2 and 3 interventions