American Reading Corps

About me: <p>Miss Mary Spencer is a former Denver Public School teacher, and former administrator for the Colorado Department of Education. She is a current doctoral student at Vanderbilt, and an assistant professor for a university-based school of education where she trains elementary, special education and secondary teachers. Miss Spencer has over 20 years of professional experience including professional teacher training in 25+ schools across 4 states, program development at the K-12 and higher education levels, accreditation management, grant writing, and state-wide K-12 literacy reform. Her academic areas of interest include teacher preparation, literacy, disadvantaged youth, students with Dyslexia, and effective programs for English Language Learners. </p>   A special area of focus in Mary's publications includes phonics resources for older students. That is why she uses more mature pictures in her products. She says, "Few resources with age-appropriate pictures exist for older students reading at the 1st and 2nd grade level." She wishes more authors would create resources with appropriate pictures and content for the millions of upper elementary, middle and high school students who struggle with reading (see NAEP data).   Finally, Miss Spencer lives in the beautiful mountains outside Denver, and happily lives with seven animals who keep her mind sharp!

Grades: 15,2,3,4,5,7,9,11