Book Club - About the Authors

About the Authors

Taffy E. Raphael
taffy@uic.edu Taffy E. Raphael is a member of the Curriculum and Instruction faculty in Literacy Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, teaching courses related to methods of instruction, teacher research, and related topics. Prior to joining the UIC faculty, Dr. Raphael taught and conducted research at the University of Utah (1980-1982), Michigan State University (1982-1997), and Oakland University (1997-2001). Dr. Raphael's work in teacher education was recognized by her receipt of the Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award from the International Reading Association in May 1997. Dr. Raphael's research has focused on Question-Answer Relationships, strategy instruction in writing, and, for the past decade, Book Club, a literature-based reading program. Throughout these research projects, she has studied teacher learning and professional development through teacher study groups. She received Oakland University's Research Excellence Award in September 2000. She has published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Research in the Teaching of English, The Reading Teacher, and Language Arts. She has coauthored and edited several books on literacy instruction, including The Book Club Connection: Literacy Learning and Classroom Talk (Teachers College Press, 1997), Book Club: A Literature-Based Curriculum (Small Planet Communications, 1997, 2002), Literature-Based Instruction: Reshaping the Curriculum (Christopher-Gordon, 1998), and Book Club for Middle School (Small Planet Communications, 2001). She will be publishing her QAR (Question-Answer Relationships) program in the spring of 2002 with Wright Group. She has served as National Reading Conference Board member, treasurer, and president, as well as on the editorial board of Journal of Literacy Research, Reading Research Quarterly, and the review board for The Reading Teacher. She was selected for the International Reading Association Reading Hall of Fame in 2002.

Laura S. Pardo
pardo18@comcast.net Laura S. Pardo spent fourteen years as a classroom teacher and worked as an educational consultant before taking her current position with the Teacher Education program at Michigan State University. Her teaching has been highlighted in videotapes including the Center for the Study of Reading's Reading Instruction in the Content Areas, Silver Burdett Ginn's Literature-Based Instruction, and Small Planet's Book Club: A Literature-Based Curriculum. Ms. Pardo received her B.S. in education from Central Michigan University and her M.A. (with a concentration in Reading Instruction) from Michigan State University. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University in Teaching, Curriculum, and Educational Psychology. She began her involvement with the Book Club Project in 1990 as a classroom teaching member. She has been a frequent presenter at the Michigan Reading Association, the National Reading Conference, and the International Reading Association. She has published the results of her Book Club research in numerous professional journals and books, and she has a continuing interest in teacher research, teacher education, literature-based instruction, and integrated language arts.

Kathy Highfield
khighfield@holly.k12.mi.us Kathy Highfield received her B.A. in elementary education and French and her M.A. in literacy instruction (1994) from Michigan State University. She is currently working on her doctorate in Reading and Language Arts at Oakland University. Her more than ten years of teaching experience include teaching students from second to sixth grade and curriculum coordination at Rose Pioneer Elementary School in Holly, Michigan. Ms. Highfield became involved in the Book Club Project in 1991. She has been a frequent presenter at the Michigan Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Reading Conference, and the International Reading Association. She has conducted research in many areas, including content-area instruction, the role of discussion in student learning, struggling readers, balanced literacy instruction, collaborative teacher learning, critical thinking, and test-taking preparation. She coauthored the chapter "The Content-Area Connection" in The Book Club Connection: Literacy Learning and Classroom Talk (Teachers College Press, 1997).

Susan I. McMahon
smcmahon@macc.wisc.edu Susan I. McMahon (Ph.D., Michigan State University), cofounder of the Book Club Project, is a faculty member within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Project Director of "Classroom Instructional Support for the Development of Literacy and the Learning of Literature and Social Studies," a study housed within the new Center for English Learning and Achievement. She has a total of twenty-six years of teaching experience at public and private schools and at the university level. Despite the different contexts, her teaching has consistently focused on literacy development and response to literature. Her research adopts ethnographic methods to explore literacy in urban, public-school settings where she collaborates with teachers to pursue areas of like interests. Currently, her research interests include literature-based instruction; the relationships between reading, writing, and oracy; the instruction of integrated content; and the use of student-led groups during instruction. She has published articles in Teaching and Teacher Education, The Journal of Educational Research, The Reading Teacher, and Language Arts. She also coedited The Book Club Connection: Literacy Learning and Classroom Talk (Teachers College Press, 1997). Recently, she won the Harold E. Mitzel Award for Meritorious Contribution to Educational Practice Through Research for an article based on Book Club.

Taffy E. Raphael taffy@uic.edu	Taffy E. Raphael is a member of the Curriculum and Instruction faculty in Literacy Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, teaching courses related to methods of instruction, teacher research, and related topics. Prior to joining the UIC faculty, Dr. Raphael taught and conducted research at the University of Utah (1980-1982), Michigan State University (1982-1997), and Oakland University (1997-2001). Dr. Raphael's work in teacher education was recognized by her receipt of the Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award from the International Reading Association in May 1997. Dr. Raphael's research has focused on Question-Answer Relationships, strategy instruction in writing, and, for the past decade, Book Club, a literature-based reading program. Throughout these research projects, she has studied teacher learning and professional development through teacher study groups. She received Oakland University's Research Excellence Award in September 2000. She has published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Research in the Teaching of English, The Reading Teacher, and Language Arts. She has coauthored and edited several books on literacy instruction, including The Book Club Connection: Literacy Learning and Classroom Talk (Teachers College Press, 1997), Book Club: A Literature-Based Curriculum (Small Planet Communications, 1997, 2002), Literature-Based Instruction: Reshaping the Curriculum (Christopher-Gordon, 1998), and Book Club for Middle School (Small Planet Communications, 2001). She will be publishing her QAR (Question-Answer Relationships) program in the spring of 2002 with Wright Group. She has served as National Reading Conference Board member, treasurer, and president, as well as on the editorial board of Journal of Literacy Research, Reading Research Quarterly, and the review board for The Reading Teacher. She was selected for the International Reading Association Reading Hall of Fame in 2002.
Laura S. Pardo pardo18@comcast.net	Laura S. Pardo spent fourteen years as a classroom teacher and worked as an educational consultant before taking her current position with the Teacher Education program at Michigan State University. Her teaching has been highlighted in videotapes including the Center for the Study of Reading's Reading Instruction in the Content Areas, Silver Burdett Ginn's Literature-Based Instruction, and Small Planet's Book Club: A Literature-Based Curriculum. Ms. Pardo received her B.S. in education from Central Michigan University and her M.A. (with a concentration in Reading Instruction) from Michigan State University. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University in Teaching, Curriculum, and Educational Psychology. She began her involvement with the Book Club Project in 1990 as a classroom teaching member. She has been a frequent presenter at the Michigan Reading Association, the National Reading Conference, and the International Reading Association. She has published the results of her Book Club research in numerous professional journals and books, and she has a continuing interest in teacher research, teacher education, literature-based instruction, and integrated language arts.
Kathy Highfield khighfield@holly.k12.mi.us	Kathy Highfield received her B.A. in elementary education and French and her M.A. in literacy instruction (1994) from Michigan State University. She is currently working on her doctorate in Reading and Language Arts at Oakland University. Her more than ten years of teaching experience include teaching students from second to sixth grade and curriculum coordination at Rose Pioneer Elementary School in Holly, Michigan. Ms. Highfield became involved in the Book Club Project in 1991. She has been a frequent presenter at the Michigan Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Reading Conference, and the International Reading Association. She has conducted research in many areas, including content-area instruction, the role of discussion in student learning, struggling readers, balanced literacy instruction, collaborative teacher learning, critical thinking, and test-taking preparation. She coauthored the chapter "The Content-Area Connection" in The Book Club Connection: Literacy Learning and Classroom Talk (Teachers College Press, 1997).
Susan I. McMahon smcmahon@macc.wisc.edu	Susan I. McMahon (Ph.D., Michigan State University), cofounder of the Book Club Project, is a faculty member within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Project Director of "Classroom Instructional Support for the Development of Literacy and the Learning of Literature and Social Studies," a study housed within the new Center for English Learning and Achievement. She has a total of twenty-six years of teaching experience at public and private schools and at the university level. Despite the different contexts, her teaching has consistently focused on literacy development and response to literature. Her research adopts ethnographic methods to explore literacy in urban, public-school settings where she collaborates with teachers to pursue areas of like interests. Currently, her research interests include literature-based instruction; the relationships between reading, writing, and oracy; the instruction of integrated content; and the use of student-led groups during instruction. She has published articles in Teaching and Teacher Education, The Journal of Educational Research, The Reading Teacher, and Language Arts. She also coedited The Book Club Connection: Literacy Learning and Classroom Talk (Teachers College Press, 1997). Recently, she won the Harold E. Mitzel Award for Meritorious Contribution to Educational Practice Through Research for an article based on Book Club.