Dr. Cathy M. Roller
Director of Research and Policy, International Reading Association
Dr. Cathy M. Roller, director of research and policy at the International Reading Association, develops policy statements with the board of directors, generates professional partnerships and oversees the traditional role of the research division.
The former University of Iowa curriculum and instruction professor spearheaded a commission that explored elementary teacher preparation for reading instruction and presented the highlights, titled Prepared to Make a Difference, from the Report of the National Commission on Excellence in Elementary Teacher Preparation for Reading Instruction.
Roller is a noted, accomplished facilitator who renders in-service workshops and papers for practicing teachers in a number of venues, including the Lincoln Elementary – University of Iowa Partners in Education program and the Summer Residential Reading Clinic in Iowa.
Roller is the author and co-author of four books published by the International Reading Association, including her books So...What’s a Tutor to Do? and Variability Not Disability: Struggling Readers in a Workshop Classroom. She is the editor of Learning to Teach Reading: Setting the Research Agenda, and she has published and regularly edits a number of journal articles. She has also received research grants and has presented at and attended a multitude of regional, national and international presentations and professional meetings.
Renee Hobbs
Director of the Media Education Lab, Temple University
Renee Hobbs is one of the nation’s leading authorities on media education. She is the director of the Media Education Lab at Temple University, and over the past 20 years, she has helped bring media literacy to the forefront, educating thousands of students across the United States through her collaborative work with state education agencies and media companies.
Hobbs is also the co-founder of the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA), the national membership organization of the National Media Education Conference; the co-principal investigator at the Pennsylvania Department of Public Health; and the co-director the Ph.D. Mass Media program at Temple.
The accomplished author and facilitator has published an array of scholarly and professional publications and produces a multitude of digital and cyberspace K-12 curriculum and professional development materials. These first-of-its-kind communication tools have been integrated into K-12, awakening an overwhelming quest to improve literacy among students.
Hobbs’ longitudinal research assesses the impact of media literacy of students’ reading comprehension and speaks to and aligns with the learning styles of today’s technologically savvy generation of students within America’s classrooms.