Dr. Matthew K. Burns is the Fien Endowed Professor of Special Education at the University of Florida and an Assistant Director of the University of Florida Literacy Institute. Dr. Burns has published over 200 articles and book chapters in national publications and has co-authored or co-edited 15 books. He is a Past Editor of School Psychology Review and Assessment for Effective Intervention and is one of the leading researchers regarding the use of assessment data to determine individual or small-group interventions, response to intervention, and facilitating problem-solving teams. His research has been featured in popular podcasts such as Sold a Story and documentary films such as The Truth About Reading. He received the 2020 Senior Scientist Award from Division 16 (School Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. 

Many schools provide reading interventions within a multitiered system of support but often do not use data to make intervention decisions. This interactive session will provide a framework to examine interventions that were not successful and to intensify them with research-based practices. Participants will learn a hierarchy that can be used to understand where in the learning process the breakdown is occurring and how to modify the intervention based on that information. Participants will also learn specific interventions to address the different phases of learning.

Phil Capin is an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His research focuses on understanding individual differences in reading development and on designing and evaluating effective instructional practices, particularly for students with or at risk for reading difficulties. Supported by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Capin has conducted randomized control trials examining instructional approaches for improving reading opportunities and outcomes for children in K-12 settings. He directs the BRIDGES Lab (Building Reading Instruction to Drive Growth in Every Student), which is dedicated to rigorous, collaborative research with educators to bridge the gap between research and classroom practice. Currently, Dr. Capin’s research includes: (a) developing interventions that support both foundational reading skills and text comprehension, (b) integrating social-emotional supports within reading interventions for students with co-occurring reading difficulties, and (c) improving educational opportunities and outcomes for English learners. A core aim of Dr. Capin’s work is translating research insights into practical solutions that address the everyday challenges faced by educators and students. Before joining academia, Dr. Capin was a teacher in El Centro, California. 

This session explores how to effectively integrate code-based (word recognition, phonics, and decoding) and meaning-based (oral language, general knowledge, and reading comprehension) instruction to support students with dyslexia. Participants will examine why a dual focus is essential to literacy success for many students with dyslexia. We will discuss practical strategies for weaving explicit phonics and word-level work together with activities that build vocabulary, background knowledge, and language comprehension. Attendees will learn how to create lessons that not only address dyslexic students’ unique needs in decoding text but also foster their understanding and engagement with what they read.

Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan is president of the Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville, Texas, and a research associate with the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics at the University of Houston. 
Elsa has dedicated 25 years to working on national research projects sponsored by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, the Institute of Education Sciences, a research arm of the United States Department of Education and the Office of Special Education Programs. Her research interests include the development of language and literacy skills among Spanish-and English-speaking students. She has also worked with teams of researchers designing assessments and interventions for this linguistically diverse population of students. 
Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan serves as the chairperson of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities and is a Professional Advisory Board member of the Learning Disabilities Association of America. She is also a past vice-chairperson of the International Dyslexia Association. Elsa was honored to receive the Margaret Byrd Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Dyslexia Association, the Luke Waites Award of Service by the Academic Language Therapy Association, and the Learning Disabilities Award by the Learning Disabilities Association of America. She currently serves on the New York City Public Schools Literacy Advisory Council and the Literacy Advisory Boards for the states of Utah and Texas. Her book, entitled Literacy Foundations for English Learners: A Comprehensive Guide to Evidence-Based Instruction, was published to help educators implement Structured Literacy among English learners. 

More than 5.3 million multilingual students are currently enrolled in schools across the United States. A small percentage of these students may exhibit signs of dyslexia. Research shows that multilingual students with dyslexia can benefit from a strong foundation in both their home language and English. 

In this session, oral and written language samples will be analyzed to inform the design of evidence-based instruction. Participants will receive rubrics and lesson templates to support effective instructional planning. 

 

Sheryl L. Coglaiti is an educator, researcher, and advocate dedicated to advancing literacy and supporting learners with dyslexia. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Literacy from Louisiana State University and holds multiple certifications, including Reading Specialist and Educational Diagnostician. She is the Founder and CEO of The Learning Practice, LLC, where she provides educational evaluations, intensive dyslexia remediation, and academic coaching for students. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Education at Southeastern Louisiana University. Her teaching and research focus includes literacy development, dyslexia intervention, cognitive science, and executive functioning. Over the course of her career, she has taught a wide range of levels spanning from elementary classrooms to graduate courses, including presentations at conferences, hospitals, and universities on topics ranging from executive functioning to evidence-based reading interventions. Dr. Coglaiti continues to bridge research and practice, empowering students, families, and educators to unlock the potential of all learners. 

This presentation explores how Structured Literacy empowers struggling readers by providing explicit, systematic, and research-based instruction. Participants will gain a clear understanding of the essential components of Structured Literacy—phonology, sound-symbol relationships, syllable instruction, morphology, syntax, and semantics—and how these elements interconnect to form a strong foundation for reading success. Emphasis will be placed on step-by-step instruction that builds skills cumulatively, ensuring mastery before moving forward. Practical strategies for classroom instruction, small-group intervention, and one-on-one remediation will be shared, along with insights into how Structured Literacy supports students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences. Attendees will leave with evidence-based tools they can immediately apply to strengthen decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension in their students. 

Dr. Carolyn Denton is an author, researcher, and educational consultant specializing in reading interventions for students with reading difficulties and disabilities, including dyslexia, and students with ADHD. For over 20 years, Dr. Denton collaborated on scientific research in which she developed and evaluated reading interventions for these students. Before completing her Ph.D., Dr. Denton was a classroom teacher and reading interventionist, and she specializes in communicating with educators to help them understand and implement evidence-based practices in classrooms. She is the lead author of Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties (Brookes) and a contributing author of Climbing the Ladder of Reading and Writing (Benchmark). She has written numerous book chapters and more than 70 journal articles on reading intervention, multi-tiered systems of support, ADHD, and related topics. Dr. Denton has presented numerous keynotes, sessions, and workshops for educators, clinicians, and researchers across the US and in Europe and Asia. Prior to her retirement, she was a professor in the Children’s Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She now lives in Port Townsend, Washington. 

Students who have both Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia are uniquely at risk for a variety of negative educational and life consequences. Dr. Denton led a large scientific study of interventions for children who have both ADHD and word-level reading difficulties. The study examined the effects of ADHD intervention (a combination of medication and parent training) and intensive reading intervention for these students. In this presentation, Dr. Denton will describe our current scientific understanding of ADHD, including its definition, characteristics, and causes, as well as the unique characteristics of students who have both ADHD and reading disabilities. She will discuss the scientific evidence regarding intervention for these students and describe and demonstrate components of the intensive reading intervention provided in her study. She will conclude with practical advice to educators on adapting instruction to support the reading success of students with ADHD and reading difficulties. 

Walter E. Dunson, Ph.D., B.C.A.S.E., is the executive director/founder of Cardinal Reading Strategies LLC. He has thirty years of experience working with students internationally in the areas of language-based learning and language acquisition. Dr. Dunson was mentored through a 2,760-hour practicum in the Orton-Gillingham Approach by a founding member of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE). He has appeared as a guest on NPR and presented on the importance of evidence-based reading instruction before the Maryland State Board of Education, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the Maryland House of Delegates, and the Maryland Senate. He has served as an adjunct professor at Loyola University Maryland’s Graduate School of Education, and he is a former member of the Maryland State Department of Education Elementary Literacy Work Group, a committee chartered to revise the four reading courses at the college/university level that all Maryland teachers must complete to obtain state certification. Dr. Dunson is the author of School Success for Kids with Dyslexia and Other Reading Difficulties and The English Code. He is the co-author of Understanding Twice Exceptional Learners: Connecting Research to Practice, and the developer of the Rigor Mortis Reading App. 

The vast majority of our national approach to literacy instruction is based upon the belief that learning to read and write English is analogous to learning to speak it. In the minds of “Whole Language” or “Balanced Literacy” people, learning to read is a natural, unconscious process best fostered by unstructured immersion. In an atmosphere that is rich with simple printed texts and texts being read aloud, small children make a wondrous associative leap from knowing the alphabet to knowing the sounds that the letters make and when they’ll make them, to being able to read whole words, and knowing what these words mean. They make this leap all while taking into consideration vowel activity, vowel teams, consonants, consonant blends, consonant digraphs, syllable types, syllable division, and morphology. Remember that “Whole Language” and “Balanced Literacy” say that students do all this naturally. I term this magical leap, “literacy through osmosis”. I’m fond of saying that learning to read simply because you are surrounded by written words is akin to my being able to fly simply because I am surrounded by air. In this session, we will explore a solution to this fallacy. 

As an assistant professor at Marietta College, Michelle Elia prepares pre-service teachers to teach reading using evidence-based language and literacy practices. Michelle previously served as Ohio Literacy Lead for the Ohio Department of Education, and she has taught students in preschool through high school. Michelle is a nationally recognized literacy professional development provider, training educators in language and literacy instruction and assessment within an MTSS framework. She serves as a school board member of her local district and president of The Reading League Ohio. A lifelong learner, Elia is pursuing her doctorate in Reading Science at Mount St. Joseph University. Michelle is passionate about teaching and applying the science of reading to the classroom, especially for struggling adolescent readers. When she is not talking about reading, her favorite job is being a mom to her three not-so-small children. 

Morphemes are building blocks of meaning, spelling, and syntax. These magnificent units of language can improve students' reading comprehension and written expression. This session will review the basics of morphology and provide ideas for explicit instruction to build morphological awareness in both vocabulary and syntax instruction. Spoiler alert: It’s not about memorizing morphemes! 

Sally Gerstner, M.Ed., LDT, CALT, is the founder of Southern Roots Dyslexia Therapy. With a deep passion for supporting families through every stage of the dyslexia journey—diagnosis, therapy, and family support—Sally has spent the past eight years building meaningful partnerships in South Louisiana. Her work has helped bring greater awareness and improved support for dyslexic learners in local private and Catholic schools. Sally is an active member of the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA) and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), and she currently serves as President of the Louisiana ALTA Chapter. She holds dual bachelor's degrees in elementary and Special Education, along with a master’s in dyslexia therapy from William Carey University. She is dual trained in both the Neuhaus Basic Language Skills and Take Flight programs and is currently pursuing certification as a Qualified Instructor, with the goal of expanding dyslexia therapy training opportunities across Louisiana. Sally is also a proud mom to four children—two in college, one in high school, and one in middle school—who are her purpose and joy in life. 

Students with dyslexia can thrive when schools implement effective, research-based practices at both the classroom and systems level. This presentation explores successful models and practical strategies that support students with dyslexia across a range of educational settings. Participants will examine the key components of dyslexia-friendly classrooms, including structured literacy instruction, accommodations, and progress monitoring. We’ll also discuss how schools and districts can create a culture of support through staff training, screening protocols, and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). Real-world examples will highlight what works—and why. Whether you're a classroom teacher, administrator, or specialist, this session will provide actionable ideas to strengthen dyslexia support and improve student outcomes. 

Megan Gierka is a nationally recognized literacy specialist with deep experience in classroom instruction and systems-level implementation. She has worked across public and private schools, including with students with dyslexia, and now partners with state agencies, universities, and national organizations to scale structured literacy implementation. Dr. Gierka’s work helps institutions align teacher preparation with policy, practice, and the needs of students with dyslexia to ensure that future educators are prepared to support all learners, including in content areas.

This session will explore how the Instructional Hierarchy and learning science can guide effective reading instruction for students with dyslexia. Participants will learn how to use student performance data to determine whether a child needs additional reinforcement in acquisition, fluency, or generalization/adaptation. By matching instruction to a student’s stage in the hierarchy, educators can better target interventions and accelerate reading growth. Practical lesson examples and strategies will demonstrate how data-driven decision making supports lasting literacy success.

Dr. Lakeisha Johnson is an assistant professor in the Communication Science and Disorders program at Florida State University and the director of The Village, the outreach and engagement division at the Florida Center for Reading Research. Her primary research interests include language, literacy, and dialect usage in African American children and increasing the use of evidence-based practices for language and literacy development across a variety of stakeholders. It is her mission to investigate the aforementioned areas while building research-practice partnerships between the university and the local community to ensure children from underserved populations obtain strong language and literacy skills. 

The cognitive benefits associated with bilingualism have been extensively researched and documented. This session explores the unique cognitive strengths observed in children who speak African American English (AAE) to determine whether a similar cognitive advantage is present. By examining the linguistic features of AAE and the relation between dialect density and performance on an executive functioning task, this presentation highlights how bidialectalism may foster cognitive flexibility. Educators, speech-language pathologists, and other practitioners will be provided with strategies to better support AAE-speaking children while encouraging a strength-based approach to understanding language variation, challenging traditional deficit perspectives, and promoting culturally responsive practices. 

Melanie R. Kuhn, PhD, is Professor and Jean Adamson Stanley Faculty Chair in Literacy at the Purdue University College of Education. Her primary research focus has been reading fluency and how best to support its development. As part of this work, she was the first author on a review of fluency instruction published in the Journal of Educational Psychology and an article on fluency’s theoretical and practical relationship to assessment for Reading Research Quarterly. Dr. Kuhn was a co-PI on a 5-year grant exploring fluency development with second graders from the IERI/NSF and PI on a Spencer grant that considered the relationship between reading fluency and the use of challenging social studies text with third graders. She currently has three books in press (Handbook on the Science of Literacy: Grades 3-8; Developing Conceptual Knowledge Through Oral and Written Language; Developing Fluent Readers: Teaching Fluency as a Foundational Skill) along with numerous journal articles and book chapters. She is also the moderator for thereadingforum.com, a website designed to provide teachers and other stakeholders with direct access to research-based literacy resources. 

This presentation discusses reading fluency and how its components (accuracy, automaticity, and prosody) contribute to comprehension, specifically, and skilled reading, in general. It will highlight principles for effective fluency instruction, including the use of modeling and challenging or “stretch” texts. The session will also provide examples of research-based instruction that has been shown to improve students’ fluency, word recognition, and comprehension. These will include approaches for whole class and small group instruction that make use of repetition, such as fluency-oriented reading instruction (FORI) and fluency-oriented oral reading instruction (FOOR), as well as approaches that incorporate wide reading or the use of multiple texts, such as Wide FORI and Wide FOOR. It will also discuss how these approaches have been used effectively with fiction and informational texts, as well as across multiple types of text (literature anthologies, trade books, and texts designed specifically for classroom interventions, such as QuickReads). Finally, the session will explore how fluency strategies have been used effectively with a broad range of learners from the primary grades through high school. 

Sylvia Linan-Thompson, Ph.D. is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, an associate professor at the University of Oregon in the Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences, and is affiliated with the Center on Teaching and Learning. Her teaching and research focus on teaching and assessing the reading development of struggling readers who are monolingual English speakers, bilingual students acquiring Spanish and English literacy, and literacy in a second or additional language. Her research includes longitudinal intervention projects that developed and examined reading interventions and examined the implementation of RTI/MTSS in dual language schools. She has authored articles, chapters, and books on these topics. Dr. Thompson also works as a literacy specialist on international development projects in education in collaboration with the World Bank, UNESCO, and the U.S. Agency for International Development to develop reading curricula and assessments worldwide, including extensive academic and field expertise in mother-tongue and second language literacy in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and she chairs the Advisory Committee on Exceptional Children and Youth of the Office of Overseas Schools, U.S. State Department. 

Bilingual writing development is a complex process that requires the integration of both foundational and higher-order skills across both languages and is affected by multiple factors, including students’ language proficiency in each language and their exposure and opportunity to use each language. Among emergent bilingual students, spelling is a distinguishing feature of students with dyslexia. To understand the writing development of second-grade emergent bilingual students, we collected Spanish and English writing samples and scored them using accuracy and fluency indices, a word diversity index, and a holistic score. Using a series of analyses, we examined two areas. First, we modeled students’ writing profiles in Spanish and English and identified differences in writing growth based on ability levels. Next, we determined which of the indices used to score the writing samples were correlated within and across languages. Key findings demonstrate that brief English and Spanish writing samples showed variability, suggesting that they can efficiently differentiate the writing ability of emergent bilingual students. Findings related to language indicate that there is a relationship between high vocabulary diversity and the length of students’ writing. Implications for assessment and practice will be presented. 

Dr. Tommie Mabry is a globally renowned speaker, nationally recognized educator, and best-selling author whose story of resilience has inspired millions. Raised in one of Jackson, Mississippi’s toughest neighborhoods, he faced suspensions, expulsions, and was arrested in the fifth grade. After a judge told him he’d be dead or in jail in five years, Tommie chose a new path. Basketball gave him purpose, taking him around the world, and eventually led to a full scholarship at Missouri State University-West Plains—even after being shot in the foot during his senior year of high school. Dr. Mabry graduated cum laude from Tougaloo College with a B.A. in Education, earned an M.A. in Child Development, and completed an Executive Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education from Jackson State University. He went on to teach in the same school district that once expelled him. He is the founder of the Tommie Mabry Company and author of A Dark Journey to a Light Future and other impactful books. He has appeared on The Jennifer Hudson Show and has received the Corwin New Voices Award, and in 2025, was named one of Mississippi’s Top 50 Men in Business. His mantra: “I cannot walk in my future with my foot in my past.” 

This session explores the root causes as well as additional ACES (adverse childhood experiences/ trauma) faced during the school year. This insightful session will also provide attendees with a better understanding of why we are dealing with so many at-risk students and explore the root causes. Participants will learn strategies for tackling trauma barriers that can get in the way of students’ success. We have little, if any, information about the perspective of learners post-COVID-19. Further, we often perceive such students as deficient. There should be a focus on the root causes of barriers within childhood adversity in the lives of these students. Participants will learn how to effectively innovate initiatives that are geared toward breaking down barriers that hinder students’ success. Participants will leave the session inspired and equipped with tips and ideas for improving student achievement and strategies to support parent and family engagement.

Tamara Martin Spady is a literacy intervention consultant with Elk Island Public Schools in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, known for her creative integration of drawing into structured literacy instruction. With a strong foundation in the science of reading, Tamara uses a multisensory, brain-based approach to help young and struggling readers build skills and confidence in phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, and the alphabetic principle. Central to her work is Dual Coding Theory—the idea that combining visual and verbal information enhances learning and retention. Tamara brings this to life through guided drawing activities that make abstract literacy concepts concrete and memorable. Her art-infused interventions are fun, effective, and highly engaging, and help students make rapid progress in reading. Tamara has designed a unique model of intervention that is expanding throughout her school division, driven by the remarkable reading growth of her students. Her approach shows how structured literacy and creative teaching can work hand-in-hand. An experienced presenter, educator, and consultant, Tamara has delivered professional learning sessions across Canada. She is also the author and illustrator of two children’s books and five how-to-draw books, all reflecting her passion for literacy, art, and the joy of learning. 

"I teach my students to read by teaching them to write. I teach them to write by teaching them to draw." In this hands-on session, literacy intervention consultant Tamara Martin Spady shares how guided drawing, writing, and multi-sensory strategies can transform reading instruction for young and struggling readers. Grounded in the science of reading and Dual Coding Theory, her approach helps students build strong visual and verbal connections that support phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling. Tamara will show how drawing supports orthographic mapping, reinforces grapheme-phoneme correspondences, and helps the alphabetic principle stick, especially for students who need more than traditional instruction. You’ll also explore how to weave multi-sensory routines into your structured literacy lessons to increase engagement, motivation, and fun. Her practical strategies have led to rapid, lasting gains across her school division. Best of all, you’ll get to try it yourself! Tamara will guide you step by step through simple, effective drawings that you can use immediately with your students. Walk away with new tools, fresh ideas, and a playful, powerful way to boost your intervention work. 

Nancy Mather is a Professor Emerita at the University of Arizona. She has served as a learning disabilities teacher, a diagnostician, a university professor, and an educational consultant. Her most recent book on dyslexia is Essentials of Dyslexia: Assessment and Intervention, 2nd ed. (Mather & Wendling, 2024). Dr. Mather and her co-authors have recently completed the Tests of Dyslexia (Mather, McCallum, Bell, & Wendling, 2024), a comprehensive assessment that is designed to help identify dyslexia in individuals of all ages. Dr. Mather recently received the 2023 Samuel Torrey Orton Award from IDA for her contributions to the field of dyslexia. 

The purpose of this session is to describe in detail the skills and abilities that should be included in a comprehensive evaluation for dyslexia. The evaluation should include specific reading and spelling skills, multiple linguistic risk factors (e.g., phonological awareness, orthographic processing, rapid automatized naming, and working memory), and vocabulary. It should also include qualitative information, such as a history of early speech and language difficulties and a family history of dyslexia. 

George McCloskey, Ph.D., is a professor and Director of School Psychology Research in the School of Professional and Applied Psychology of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and holds Diplomate status with the American Academy of Pediatric Neuropsychology. Dr. McCloskey has accumulated 45 years of experience in test development, teaching, research, and assessment and intervention work with children, adolescents, and adults. He has authored two books on executive functions, and the McCloskey Executive Functions Scales, and with his wife, Laurie McCloskey, is co-author of the SILAS/McCloskey Executive Functions Curriculum and the children’s book The Day Frankie Left His Frontal Lobes at Home. 

This presentation will discuss a comprehensive, neuropsychologically based model that can be used to guide assessment and intervention for reading difficulties. The model addresses the processes, abilities, skills, knowledge bases, memory capacities, and executive functions involved in reading. Techniques for assessing all components of the model will be presented. Linking assessment findings with interventions will also be discussed. Case studies, including assessment data, will be included. 

This presentation will describe executive functions and discuss their involvement in reading skill acquisition and the productive application of reading skills. The role of motivation in skill development will also be addressed. Reading difficulties related to executive function deficits will be discussed in detail. Interventions for helping students improve their use of executive functions when reading will be discussed. Particular emphasis will be placed on intervention techniques to help struggling students overcome executive function difficulties and improve academic proficiency. 

Dr. Karol Ann Moore is the Vice President of Research and Policy at Neuhaus Education Center. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a literacy emphasis from Texas A&M University, where her research focused on the identification of dyslexia among emergent bilingual learners. In her role at Neuhaus, Dr. Moore leads efforts to build a comprehensive data system to evaluate the impact of professional development courses and curricula. In addition, she bridges research and practice by supporting course and curricular development based on current literacy research, as well as translating policy developments for staff, educators, and stakeholders. 

Despite increased legislative attention and mandates around dyslexia screening and intervention across the nation, many barriers to effective and equitable dyslexia identification remain. This session will examine recent trends in identification rates in Texas prior to and following the passage of state legislation around screening, highlighting both progress and persistent gaps. Information regarding the continued under-identification of emergent bilingual learners and the troubling reality that early identification remains elusive—with students most likely identified in fourth and fifth grade—will be included. Participants will reflect on the gap between policy decisions and classroom realities to consider actionable strategies for driving systems-level improvements for early and equitable identification.

Meghan Sanchez is a Teacher Training Consultant with Chartwell Teaching Institute (CTI), where she trains educators across California in structured literacy, morphology, and language comprehension. She brings over a decade of classroom experience and a deep commitment to supporting neurodiverse learners. Previously, Meghan taught at Chartwell School, a school dedicated to students with dyslexia and other learning differences. She also served as Director of Academic Support and Academic Dean at Lake Tahoe Preparatory School. Meghan began her teaching career through City Teaching Alliance, in Washington, D.C., and supported new educators as a graduate assistant with the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. She holds a bachelor's degree from Haverford College and a dual Master’s in Elementary and Special Education from Lesley University. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in inquiry and individualized instruction—helping students find access points to learning and building on their strengths to foster curiosity, confidence, and growth. She lives in Truckee, California, with her wife, Kayla, and their dog, Reagan.

In this hands-on session, educators will explore how explicit instruction in morphology— the study of meaningful word parts—can significantly enhance students’ reading, spelling, and vocabulary skills. Participants will learn how to guide students in investigating words through Structured Word Inquiry (SWI), making sense of complex vocabulary by analyzing roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Through interactive activities and practical tools like word sums, word matrices, and word webs, teachers will walk away with strategies they can immediately apply in any classroom—from early elementary through high school. Discover how understanding word structure not only supports students with dyslexia but also builds confidence and curiosity in all learners.

Catherine Scott, Ed.D., CALT, Chief Academic Office, Neuhaus Education Center 

Dr. Catherine Hungerford Scott joined Neuhaus Education Center in Houston, Texas, in 2008. As part of the Neuhaus, she oversees the professional development offerings and certification programs, the family support office, adult literacy program, and helps direct Neuhaus’s internal and external research projects. Catherine is a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) and has worked in the education community since 1999 as a classroom teacher, reading and dyslexia interventionist, professional learning instructor, coach, researcher, and writer. Catherine acquired her Ed.D. and M.Ed. from the University of St. Thomas where her thesis was awarded the Thesis of Distinction. Her research interests are reading development and acquisition, effective literacy instructional practices, and implementation science. 

Students with dyslexia typically struggle at the word level, but it is imperative to not wait until they are skilled decoders to build comprehension skills. To support reading comprehension, students need a process for organizing and retaining information that is easily accessed and connected to their background knowledge. In this session, participants will learn how to help students strategically and regularly use the structure of connected text to support reading and listening comprehension while simultaneously integrating writing. 

Dr. Stollar is the co-author of MTSS for Reading Improvement: A Leader’s Toolkit for Schoolwide Success, a practical guide for education leaders who want to implement research-backed literacy systems that work. She previously served as an assistant professor at Mount St. Joseph University, where she prepared future education policy leaders and supported the integration of the science of reading into teacher preparation programs. 

Her professional journey includes leadership roles at Acadience Learning, where she served as Vice President of Professional Learning, and extensive fieldwork as a school psychologist, professor, and MTSS consultant for hundreds of school districts. 

Stephanie also serves on the Executive Team at the Evidence Advocacy Center, as a Board Member for the Innovations in Education Consortium, and as a co-founder of a national alliance to advance the science of reading in higher education. Through her workshops, publications, and ongoing mentorship of teacher educators, she continues to build the capacity of educators and systems to ensure every student can be lifted through literacy. 

Universal screening is a powerful tool for the prevention of and early intervention for reading difficulties such as dyslexia. But if your school is only using screening data to identify students who are at risk or struggling readers, you may be overwhelmed with the number of students needing intervention, which makes intervention less effective and increases the number of students referred to your SBLC and your pupil appraisal team. Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) offers an alternative service delivery model focused on improving the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction in the general education classroom, so fewer students need intervention. This session will explore the use of universal screening data in the MTSS framework. The presenter will share examples from schools that have used MTSS to improve reading outcomes, reduce the number of students who need intervention, and streamline the process of identifying students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia.

Jason Talbot has served as the Assessment/Research Coordinator in the Louisiana Center for Dyslexia and Related Learning Disorders at Nicholls State University for over 20 years, and he is also currently the Director for the Center. He has worked for the Lafourche Parish School Board as well. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology and his specialist degree in school psychology from Nicholls State, and he subsequently earned the credentials of Nationally Certified School Psychologist and Licensed Specialist in School Psychology. He lives in Thibodaux with his wife and two adolescent sons. 

This session will focus on identifying students who display characteristics of dyslexia and related learning disorders. Both general evaluation procedures and specific assessment tools will be discussed. 

Dr. Eric Tridas is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician with over 37 years of experience. He served as Director of the Tridas Center for Child Development in Tampa, Florida, and as a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of South Florida (USF). He currently holds an honorary academic appointment at USF’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Dr. Tridas represents the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) on the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) and serves on the Professional Advisory Board of the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) and ResearchILD. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Lectores para el futuro in Puerto Rico. He co-authored publications on learning disabilities, including the SLD chapter in the Textbook of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, the book Dyslexia Assessment: A Guide for Teachers to Understand and Evaluate the Needs of Their Students, and the book From ABC to ADHD: What Every Parent Should Know About Dyslexia and Attention Problems. His clinical research includes the development of the Screening Pediatric Patients for Reading Difficulties Test (SPRouT-D) and its Spanish adaptation, PEDAL-B. Dr. Tridas is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Margaret Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award (IDA), the Learning Disabilities Association of America Award, and the Innovator Award from the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC). 

Evaluating a student with learning difficulties poses a complex challenge, yet there are numerous approaches to address these issues. In this presentation, Dr. Tridas will delve into both WHAT should be assessed and HOW these assessments should be conducted, utilizing the LDA Assessment Principles and Standards as a foundation. This multidisciplinary approach underscores the factors influencing a student's learning and proposes a model to ensure assessments are conducted in a way that comprehensively addresses the student's specific needs by focusing on the whole child. Dr. Tridas will delineate the four components of effective assessment (the HOW) and the various factors that necessitate evaluation (the WHAT). This presentation aims to equip teachers, school psychologists, educational diagnosticians, and other professionals involved in the evaluation process with the necessary tools to identify the factors impacting a student's learning. This identification is crucial for developing an appropriate, multidisciplinary intervention plan. 

Karen Tzanetopoulos, M.S., CCC-SLP, is both a speech-language pathologist and an expert in math cognition, language, and learning. She is a co-author of the book How Children Learn Math: The Science of Math Learning in Research and Practice (Routledge, 2023). She is the recipient of three National Science Foundation grants focused on the science of mathematics and language. Karen is working with several states to improve their math instruction. Karen provides professional development to teachers on how to teach math more effectively, including at private schools for students with dyslexia, parochial schools, and public schools. She specializes in helping children with dyslexia and math difficulties, utilizing her deep understanding of the influence of language on math learning with all her students. Karen also shares her knowledge at various conferences, including the International Dyslexia Association, Big Sky Literacy Summit, and IDA branches. Karen began her career as an SLP in a neurosurgical hospital, which fostered her love for the workings of the brain. She also worked in public schools and now works with children in person and online through her private practice. 

This session will discuss the relationship between the Science of Math and the Science of Reading, which share a similar history, although access to the Science of Reading is currently ahead of that of the Science of Math. We will also explore how language skills such as phonological processing, language development, rapid automatic naming (RAN), and reading are critical and highly predictive of math success. Furthermore, the English language can be particularly abstract when it comes to math, making it more challenging to learn. We will investigate how current math instruction, which is heavily language-based, can impede math learning for many students, particularly those with language challenges. 

This session will cover key components of math instruction that can lead to math success for struggling students. We will discuss reducing the language load, modifying abstract math language, and using concrete and explicit instruction. Struggling students can also quickly develop mathematical thinking, rather than relying on memorization, which is primarily a language-based task. Many students who struggle with math are fully capable of learning math. It is so much fun to hear them say, “Oh, now I get it! Why don’t they teach it this way in school?” 

Dr. Julie Washington is a Professor and Dean in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). She is a speech-language pathologist and a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Dr. Washington directs the California Learning Disabilities Research Innovation Hub. She is also the director of the Language Variation and Academic Success lab. Her research is focused on the intersection of literacy, language variation, and poverty in African American children from preschool through sixth grade. In particular, her work focuses on understanding the role of cultural dialect in assessment outcomes and on disentangling the relationship between language production and comprehension in the development of early reading and language skills for African American children growing up in poverty. Currently, she is working on developing assessment protocols for use with high-density dialect speakers that are designed to improve our ability to measure their linguistic competence and developing interventions to improve reading fluency and comprehension of African American children who speak dialect. This work is funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health and the American Education Research and Development Fund, respectively. 

Educational approaches to supporting children who speak varied forms of English often view linguistic variation through a deficit lens centered on replacing any oral variation with the linguistic “standard.” These approaches ignore children’s cultural-linguistic assets, requiring them to switch codes and utilize significant cognitive resources that may detract from efficient and effective reading acquisition. In particular, reading fluency and comprehension may be casualties in these approaches. This presentation addresses: 1) the costs of ignoring dialect variation in assessments of reading and language acquisition with African American children who speak African American English (AAE); and 2) the promise of translanguaging as an asset-based approach to reading fluency and syntax instruction with school-aged, African American children who speak AAE.

Christopher Woodin, M.Ed., is an accomplished educator and specialist in mathematics and learning disabilities. With an impressive 38-year tenure at Landmark School, he served as the Math Department Head and held the prestigious Ammerman Chair of Mathematics. A graduate of Middlebury College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Chris has made significant contributions to the field through his innovative approaches to math education for students with learning disabilities. Chris is the author of Multiplication and Division Facts for the Whole-to-Part Visual Learner and has recently developed Chris Woodin's Number Sense, a computer-based math program created in collaboration with Nessy Learning in the UK. His expertise is reflected in numerous articles, including a notable publication through the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. Recognized for his dedication, he was honored as the Massachusetts Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) Samuel Kirk Educator of the Year and contributed to the Massachusetts Department of Education's Mathematics 2011 Curriculum Frameworks Panel. Renowned for his multimodal instructional strategies, Chris presents internationally on topics that bridge mathematics education and learning disabilities. He also manages WoodinMath.com, a free platform that highlights his pioneering methods and resources for educators and students alike. 

Labels like dyslexia and dyscalculia may garner services, but do not define these services. Understanding the dynamics behind the label, as well as the neurodivergent individual's constellation of cognitive metrics is essential to develop an effective educational plan of action. The acquisition of numeracy involves the dynamic interaction between quantities, symbols, and the language used to represent them. When complexity increases within the academic context of math, other individual-specific cognitive factors can become the limiting factor in acquiring numeracy. Examples of these factors along with some diagnostic-prescriptive therapies will be presented.