Authors
Kylene Beers, Ed.D., is a former middle school teacher who has turned her commitment to adolescent literacy and struggling readers into the major focus of her research, writing, speaking, and teaching. She author of the best-selling When Kids Can’t Read/What Teachers Can Do, co-editor (with Bob Probst and Linda Rief) of Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice, and co-author (with Bob Probst) of Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading, all published by Heinemann. She taught in the College of Education at the University of Houston, served as Senior Reading Researcher at the Comer School Development Program at Yale University, and most recently acted as the Senior Reading Advisor to Secondary Schools for the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College.
Kylene has published numerous articles in state and national journals, served as editor of the national literacy journal, Voices from the Middle, and was the 2008-2009 President of the National Council of Teachers of English. She is an invited speaker at state, national, and international conferences and works with teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools across the US. Kylene has served as a consultant to the National Governor’s Association and was the 2011 recipient of the Conference on English Leadership outstanding leader award.
Robert E. Probst, author of Response and Analysis, (Heinemann, 2004) is a respected authority on the teaching of literature. Bob’s focus on engagement and literary analysis helps teachers learn the strategies to help readers approach a text with more confidence and greater skill.
Professor Emeritus of English Education at Georgia State University, Bob’s publications include numerous articles in English Journal, Voices from the Middle, and professional texts including Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice (Heinemann, 2007), and the forthcoming Heinemann book Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading (with Kylene Beers).
He presents at national conventions including the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Association of Supervisors and Curriculum Developers (ASCD), and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). He has served NCTE in various leadership roles including the Conference on English Leadership Board of Directors, the Commission on Reading, column editor of the NCTE journal Voices from the Middle, and is the 2007 recipient of the CEL Outstanding Leadership Award.