2023 BU Wheelock Forum

Supporting Students with Reading Disabilities: Toward Equity and Access

March 30–31, 2023

The 2023 BU Wheelock Forum examined current trends in reading achievement for children with reading disabilities—including dyslexia—and explore why national reading assessment performance dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic. We focused on what we as researchers, translational scientists, policymakers, practitioners, community members, and alumni are doing and can do to address these alarming trends.

Attendees connected with BU Wheelock faculty researchers, as well as state and national leaders in reading disabilities, as we charted a course toward improved reading achievement through the science of reading, translational science, and evidence-informed policymaking.

Agenda

Thursday, March 30

How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
Emily Hanford, Senior Correspondent & Producer, American Public Media

For the past five years, journalist Emily Hanford has been reporting on how children learn to read. Her work has sent shock waves across the United States and around the world. In this keynote, Hanford will tell the story of how she became interested in early reading instruction and discuss key insights from scientific research. She will also share what she has learned from teachers, parents, and kids, and talk about her latest project, the podcast Sold a Story.

Panel discussion

  • Dean David Chard, BU Wheelock, moderator
  • Emily Hanford, Senior Producer & Correspondent, American Public Media
  • Tracy White-Weeden, President & CEO, Neuhaus Education Center
  • Patrick Tutwiler, Massachusetts Secretary of Education
  • Edward Fergus, Professor of Urban Ecology & Policy, Rutgers University

Reception & Poster Session

Friday, March 31

Keynote
Dr. Tracy White-Weeden, President & CEO, Neuhaus Education Center

Logo for Reading the Room Discussion SeriesPlenary Panel Session 1: The State of the Science of Reading for Supporting Students with Reading Disabilities

  • Emily Hanford, Senior Correspondent and Producer, American Public Media, moderator
  • Nancy J. Nelson, Assistant Professor of Special Education, BU Wheelock

Plenary Panel Session 2: Bringing a Whole Child Approach to Supporting Students with Reading Disabilities

  • Jennifer Greif Green, Associate Professor of Special Education, BU Wheelock, moderator
  • Amie Grills, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Professor of Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development, BU Wheelock
  • Lisa M. Hagermoser Sanetti, Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

Plenary Panel Session 3: Policy Implications for Children with Reading Disabilities

  • Jacqueline Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer, National Center for Learning Disabilities
  • Lindsay E. Jones, Chief Executive Officer, CAST

Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Photo of Emily HanfordEmily Hanford
Senior Correspondent and Producer, American Public Media

Emily Hanford is a senior correspondent and producer for American Public Media. Her work has appeared on NPR and in The New York Times, Washington Monthly, The Los Angeles Times and other publications. Her work has won numerous honors including a duPont-Columbia University Award and the Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research Award from the American Educational Research Association. Emily is a member of the Education Writers Association’s Journalist Advisory Board and was a longtime mentor for EWA’s “new to the beat” program. For the past several years, Emily has been reporting on early reading instruction. Her 2018 podcast episode “Hard Words: Why aren’t kids being taught to read?” won the inaugural public service award from EWA. You can find all of her reporting on reading at apmreports.org/reading, including her new podcast, Sold a Story: How teaching kids to read went so wrong (soldastory.org). Emily is based in the Washington, D.C. area.

Shows Tracy White-WeedenTracy White-Weeden
President & CEO, Neuhaus Education Center

Dr. Tracy White-Weeden is a seasoned leader dedicated to advancing literacy success for all and academic excellence for children. She brings 28 years of experience to a calling of shaping dynamic systems-change so that children are well prepared for the realities of a 21st-century knowledge economy. White is also a relentless literacy advocate who frames literacy as a fundamental human right that transforms the family tree when evidence-based practices are scaled responsibly. Her life’s work has been to position literacy success for all as a moral imperative that creates a place at the table for every child and adult, regardless of zip code or country of origin.

Speakers & Moderators

  • Dean David Chard, BU Wheelock
  • Edward Fergus, Professor of Urban Ecology & Policy, Rutgers University
  • Hank Fien, Professor and Director, National Center on Improving Literacy, BU Wheelock
  • Jennifer Greif Green, Associate Professor of Special Education, BU Wheelock
  • Amie Grills, BU Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Professor of Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development
  • Lindsay E. Jones, Chief Executive Officer, CAST
  • Nancy J. Nelson, Assistant Professor of Special Education, BU Wheelock
  • Jacqueline Rodriguez, Chief Executive Officer, National Center for Learning Disabilities
  • Lisa M. Hagermoser Sanetti, Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut
  • Patrick Tutwiler, Massachusetts Secretary of Education