Comprehension Instruction: Research-based Best Practices

Cathy Collins Block, PhD, has served on the graduate faculty of Texas Christian University (TCU) since 1977. She presently serves, has served, or was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association, National Reading Conference, Literacy First, New Zealand AWARD Program, U.S. Department of Education Regional Research Laboratory, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning Laboratory, National Center for Learning Disabilities, IBM Education Board of Advisors, National Center for Learning Disabilities, America Tomorrow, and Nobel Learning Communities. Dr. Block has written more than 250 research articles, books, and chapters concerning comprehension development, vocabulary achievement, exemplary teaching practices, and effects of curricular initiatives on student literacy success. She has taught every grade level, from preschool to graduate school, and served as consultant to hundreds of school districts in the United States and around the world. In 2005, she received the highest award bestowed by TCU to a professor for her outstanding teaching and scholarship across the country: the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching and Scholarship.

Sheri R. Parris, MEd, is currently completing her PhD at the University of North Texas while teaching undergraduate reading courses. Her major area of study is reading education, with a minor in neuroscience. As a former middle school teacher, her emphasis is on secondary reading issues. Currently, she serves as Secretary and Vice President of the Gifted and Talented Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association (IRA) and has recently served on the IRA Adolescent Literacy Committee. Ms. Parris was invited to speak at the 2007 IRA conference to present "The Expertise of Adolescent Literacy Teachers," published in April 2007 in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. Additionally, she coauthored two chapters in the 2006 book Collaborative Literacy: Using Gifted Strategies to Enrich Learning for Every Student (by Susan E. Israel, Dorothy A. Sisk, and Cathy Collins Block), which was nominated for the 2007 Ed Fry Book Award of the National Reading Conference.