Reading Success for Struggling Adolescent Learners

Susan Lenski, EdD, is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Portland State University, where she teaches graduate reading and language arts courses. Previously, Dr. Lenski taught school for 20 years, working with children from kindergarten through high school. During her years as a teacher, she was awarded the Nila Banton Smith Award from the International Reading Association (IRA) for integrating reading in content-area classes and was instrumental in leading her school to receive an Exemplary Reading Program Award. Dr. Lenski was inducted into the Illinois Reading Hall of Fame in 1999, and she served on the IRA Board of Directors from 2004 to 2007. Her research interests focus on strategic reading and writing, adolescent literacy, preparing teacher candidates, and social justice education. She has published more than 65 articles and 14 books.

Jill Lewis, EdD, is Professor of Literacy Education at New Jersey City University, where she teaches graduate courses in reading, and reading development courses to underprepared freshmen. Previously she taught high school English and reading in public schools and at a community college. Dr. Lewis is a past member of the IRA’s Board of Directors (2004 to 2007), chaired IRA’s Government Relations Committee, is an IRA Volunteer Education Consultant for a secondary school literacy project in Macedonia, and volunteered in IRA’s Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking project. She served on several state-level task forces, including the New Jersey Task Force on Middle School Literacy, and co-chaired New Jersey’s Task Force for Curriculum Framework for Language Arts Literacy. Dr. Lewis was a Princeton University Faculty Fellow for policy studies and directed community leadership programs in New Jersey. The New Jersey Reading Association awarded her its Distinguished Service Award in 2002. She has authored numerous articles on adolescent literacy, professional development, advocacy, and content-area reading, and has published several books.