MEET THE TEAM

Dr. Jade Wexler is an associate professor of special education at the University of Maryland. Her current research interests include developing and testing reading interventions to support adolescents with reading difficulties and disabilities in the content areas and in supplemental intensive interventions. Her research also focuses on designing and evaluating professional development, literacy coaching, and schoolwide service delivery models to support teachers’ implementation of evidence-based literacy practices at the secondary level. Dr. Wexler has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on several federally funded adolescent literacy grants. She has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and is the co-author of three books about adolescent literacy. As a former high school special education and reading teacher, Dr. Wexler brings her practical experience in the field to her research. She greatly values the partnerships she forms with school district administrators and teachers to do this work.

For the past 22 years, Dr. Elizabeth Swanson has served the field of education as a special education teacher, college instructor, researcher, public speaker, and writer. Dr. Swanson’s consistent focus has been on improving educational opportunities for struggling readers and students with learning disabilities. She is currently a research associate professor with a dual appointment in the Department of Special Education at The University of Texas at Austin and The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk (MCPER). Dr. Swanson has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on federally and state-funded projects exceeding $30 million to date. She has published more than 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals focused on literacy instruction in kindergarten to grade 8. As a former elementary school special education math and reading teacher, Dr. Swanson remembers the critical need for research to be made accessible to teachers. For this reason, she particularly enjoys collaborating with teachers to design interventions for their students.

Dr. Colleen Reutebuch is a senior project manager, researcher, and Reading Institute co-director at MCPER. Dr. Reutebuch has experience managing large-scale intervention, evaluation, and professional development projects and teams. She has served as co-principal investigator and project director on multiple projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. She has directed and provided technical assistance and professional development to support projects funded by the Texas Education Agency. Dr. Reutebuch currently serves as external evaluator and co-principal investigator on Office of Special Education Programs-funded technical assistance and development grants, principal investigator of the external evaluation of the Lead for Literacy Center, and co-principal investigator on an Institute of Education Sciences Goal 2 grant. Dr. Reutebuch serves as a reviewer for Learning Disabilities Quarterly and has published articles and book chapters on reading and learning. She is a certified reading specialist and special education teacher in Texas, having taught in public schools and at the university level. Her research interests include instructional enhancements and teaching and coaching strategies.

Dr. Alexandra Shelton’s work focuses on improving literacy outcomes for secondary students with mild disabilities, including mild intellectual disability and learning disabilities, via intensive intervention and teacher professional development and coaching. As a former high school special education teacher, Dr. Shelton served students with disabilities in the general and special education settings in English language arts, reading, math, and science.

Erin Hogan is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland. She is a former classroom teacher who is committed to challenging persistent achievement patterns by preparing teachers who recognize and respond to inequities in curriculum, assessment, and classroom management through the use of culturally responsive instruction.

Blair Payne is a doctoral student at The University of Texas at Austin and a graduate research assistant for MCPER. Before starting the doctoral program, Payne taught high school special education for 5 years. Her research interests include evidence-based practice implementation in general education, universal Tier 1 models, sustainable multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) practices, and academic and behavioral interventions for middle and high school students with comorbid disabilities.

Instructional Coach Advisory Board

Whitney Stuart Anderson, M.Ed.
Reading Specialist, Washington, DC

Katryna Andrusik, Ph.D.
Instructional Coach and Curriculum Coordinator, Washington, DC

Scott Carpenter, M.Ed.
Assistant Principal, Austin, TX

Katherine A.N. Gillies, M.A., M.Ed.
Reading Specialist, ELA Teacher and Education Author, Evanston, IL

Andrea Rashbaum, M.Ed.
Academic Consultant, Newark, DE

Sandra Salazar, M.Ed.
Active Learning Leader, El Paso, TX

Julie Soskolne, M.Ed.
Master Reading Teacher and Reading Specialist, IDEA Austin Regional Literacy Coach, Austin, TX