Culturally Responsive Literacy Instruction

Bob Algozzine is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina and project codirector of the U.S. Department of Education-supported Behavior and Reading Improvement Center. With 25 years of research experience and extensive firsthand knowledge of teaching students classified as seriously emotionally disturbed, Algozzine is a uniquely qualified staff developer, conference speaker, and teacher of behavior management and effective teaching courses. He is active in special education practice as a partner and collaborator with professionals in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in North Carolina and as an editor of several journals focused on special education. Algozzine has written more than 250 manuscripts on special education topics, including many books and textbooks on how to manage emotional and social behavior problems. Dorothy J. (Doris) O'Shea, Ph.D., currently with the Chester County Intermediate Unit, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, taught Special Education courses at the tertiary level for more than 25 years, after receiving her doctorate in Special Education from the Pennsylvania State University in 1983. Additionally, she worked as a Special Education classroom teacher and school administrator for more than 11 years. During her 36-year career, Dr. O'Shea developed an independent line of research and scholarship related to literacy, instructional strategies, legal issues, and work with diverse families. In addition to securing extramural research funding in inclusion, instructional strategies, literacy, and personnel preparation, she is/was on the editorial board for major journals in the Special Education discipline (i.e., Multicultural Learning and Teaching, TEACHING Exceptional Children, Journal of Learning Disabilities, Teacher Education and Special Education, Behavioral Disorders, and Remedial and Special Education). Dr. O'Shea authored or co-authored over 80 books, book chapters, and/or articles in refereed Special Education journals. Since 1998, she worked as a Pennsylvania Special Education Due Process Hearing Officer and conducted more than 250 special education due process hearings on behalf of families and school districts. Festus E. Obiakor is a Chair and professor in the department of educational leadership and special education at the City College of New York, City University of New York. A teacher, scholar, and consultant, he has served as a distinguished visiting professor at a variety of universities, and is the author or co-author of more than 100 publications, including books, articles, and essays. Obiakor is on the editorial board of many scholarly publications, including Teacher Education and Special Education and Multiple Voices and serves as associate edtor and co-editor of these journals, respectively. Obiakor continues to prescribe multidimensional methods of assessments, divergent teaching techniques, and the community in providing learning opportunities and choices for all students.