Education (P-12), and in particular developing student math and literacy skills, are hot topics in Nova Scotia currently, following the provincial government’s release of its Education Action Plan. Mount Saint Vincent University’s Dr. Jamie Metsala, PhD, Gail & Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Learning Disabilities, is pleased to add a special voice to this local conversation as she hosts a free public lecture with Dr. Susan Neuman, Professor of Childhood and Literacy Education, New York University/Steinhardt. Dr. Neuman will share effective approaches to reading comprehension instruction.

Dr. Neuman will outline factors that influence access to resources and supports for early literacy development. She will discuss instructional approaches to create independent readers through improving children’s background knowledge, vocabulary and conceptual development.

Dr. Neuman’s research interests include literacy, early childhood policy, curriculum, and reading instruction for children who live in poverty. In her former role as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, Dr. Neuman established the Early Reading First program. She has published extensively, including the Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Changing the Odds for Children at Risk (2009), Giving Our Children a Fighting Chance: Poverty, Literacy, and the Development of Information Capital (2012), and All About Words: Increasing Vocabulary in the Common Core Classroom, Pre-K Through Grade 2 (2013). [More on Dr. Neuman.]

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