Classroom Caffeine
Classroom Caffeine
A Conversation with Victoria Risko
Dr. Victoria Risko talks to us about making connections, translanguaging, growth opportunities, equity in education, and meeting the needs of students as individuals. Vicki is known for her work in the areas of teacher education and professional development, teacher reflection, reading comprehension and meaningful learning, and uses of cases and multimedia environments to enhance learning. Dr. Risko is Professor Emerita at Vanderbilt University.
To cite this episode:
Persohn, L. (Host). (2021, Mar. 2). A conversation with Victoria Risko. (Season 1, No. 16) [Audio podcast episode]. In Classroom Caffeine Podcast series. https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests. DOI: 10.5240/8D07-ABFC-DDA9-6F17-82BF-B
Connect with Classroom Caffeine at www.classroomcaffeine.com or on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Education Research has a problem. The work of brilliant education researchers often doesn't reach the practice of brilliant teachers. Classroom Caffeine is here to help. Each week I invite a top education researcher to sit down and talk with teachers about what they have learned from years of study. This week, Dr. Victoria Risko talks to us about making connections, translanguaging, growth opportunities, equity in education, and meeting the needs of students as individuals. Vicki is known for her work in the areas of teacher education and professional development, teacher reflection, reading comprehension and meaningful learning, and use of case studies and multimodal environments to enhance learning. Dr. Risko is Professor Emerita at Vanderbilt University. For more information about our guest, stay tuned to the end of this episode. So pour a cup of your favorite morning drink. And join me your host, Lindsay Persohn. For Classroom Caffeine research to energize your teaching practice. Vicki, thank you for joining me. Welcome to the show.
Victoria Risko:Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Thank you very much.
Lindsay Persohn:From your own experiences in education, will you share with us one or two moments that inform your thinking now?
Victoria Risko:There's so many experiences that I've had that informed my thinking, but I will take us back to my early teaching experiences. When I first started teaching, I began to ask questions. So these were moments in time that led to questions that I have pursued my entire career. One question was around how can we best support students who are experiencing reading difficulties? And to how can we best prepare teachers to know what to do with those students? So I'll tell you quickly, I started teaching many many years ago, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, was fully equipped I thought, quite knowledgeable and knowing what to do when I was ready to hit the ground running. I went back to Johnstown PA, which was a steel mill city and taught in the urban district, which is Johnstown School District. I was assigned to one of the poorest areas of Johnstown and I was so interested in wanting to be there that I loved that assignment. Luckily, I started in January. So I had a teacher who retired or went on maternity leave, and she had her class well organized. But I had 37 first graders. And we now know from the research that class size really matters. Helen Bain at Tennessee State University did a marvelous study many years ago, that has been repeated and supported over the years, the class size matters. So 37 students was a challenge. And I worked endlessly, every night writing lesson plans, all we did was regrade. Read. I had large groups, small groups, one on one. But I had so many students who were experiencing really difficulties, I would say, a third of the class. And it was those students who were so challenging that I continued to plan and try different strategies. But I found that meant much later that I was teaching the curriculum, rather than teaching the student and how important that distinction is. Then I went to fourth grade. And I found there as well. Some of the same challenges with students who were experiencing reading difficulties. And that didn't lead to lifelong questions, producing questions, answering some questions and continuing to draw on that work. It led to this book that Doris Walker-Dalhouse and I know you interviewed Doris, that we wrote together Be That Teacher that was published by Teachers College Press. And that title came from something that I said to one of the editors, and that is, every year, every child who is experiencing reading difficulties comes to school, hoping that it is this teacher that will make a difference. And I'm not faulting teachers, because we have so much to learn. But it also helped me raise questions about what can we do in teacher preparation. We all work so hard, we draw on all the resources that we have. But knowledge production is really important for teacher preparation. And so that's been another line of my research as well.
Lindsay Persohn:Well that distinction you make between teaching the curriculum versus teaching the student. I think there are answers to so many questions just within that one idea. We tend to get very wrapped up in teaching the curriculum, and forgetting that there live humans in front of us, and they have different needs, and they have different desires, and they're just different people. So I think that that that actually helps just that keeping that thought in mind helps us to resolve some of those questions about where do we go from here? What do we do next? What do we focus on? Well, we focus on the student.
Victoria Risko:Right. Right. And it's so relevant, one of the things that's happening today, so when you think about a moment, a long time ago, that influenced my thinking now, there is been this revisiting of the Reading Wars idea. And the New York Times published several pieces. NPR has had several pieces, the National Public Television, in fact, a group of us wrote in response to that presentation, because each of those is revisiting the Reading Wars to single out one aspect of instruction, phonics in particular, that should be taught to correct all reading difficulties. Well, that is such misinformation. We have a lot of misinformation out there these days. But misinformation we think about it for trying to teach our children, we need to know who they are, we need to know their language, we need to know their language history, we need to know their culture, we need to know what they know starting there, what did they know? What can they do? And we also know when you focus on a single aspect of learning to read. Yes, phonics is necessary, but it's not sufficient. And we have oodles of research, the RAND report, Carol Connors work, Katherine Snow's book on preventing early reading difficulties, all of those pointing to, we need what I will call balanced instruction. Some people don't like the term balance, but it's this comprehensive view, it's responsive to what kids need. That means language, that means comprehension, that means building experiences building new knowledge, it's a rich program towards students. So one of the things I joined with a group of other colleagues to develop was a piece that is on the ILA website. And that is focusing on students experiencing reading difficulties. And what we tried to talk about is not blaming the student, and not putting all the eggs in one basket, but to develop this very rich conceptual program. And students will succeed. Yes, it's tailored to their needs, but it builds on their strenghts, builds on their language, some of the teachers may want to find that we, we really worked hard on trying to make that practical, but also to inform teachers in ways that they can advocate for their student, because policies are being written around these very narrow conceptions of reading instruction. And it's disappointing, really disappointing that may take hold.
Lindsay Persohn:And as you mentioned, here we are in the Reading Wars conversation again. And in fact, I was just talking with my class about this on Friday, this past week, and talking about how we find middle ground by understanding what students need individually. And when I say middle ground, I don't mean in any sort of watered down sense. I mean, that that we we draw, like you said what students know and and what their goals are, what do they need to know next? And then we use the best of everything we know in order to support that instruction in a rich, robust and individualized kind of way.
Victoria Risko:Yes, there is. It's interesting with this pandemic, I think there's been a more narrowing of the curriculum to get it done. And the Reading Wars are surfacing again, around the post pandemic instruction. And yet, if we would stay the course and teach strong instruction, we would make so much of a difference, especially for the students who are experiencing reading difficulties.
Lindsay Persohn:Because then in my mind, it's really not an either or. It's a it's a both and depending upon what a student needs.
Victoria Risko:That's right. And it's contextualizing that phonics instruction. So much happens... For a couple years, I was working after I retired, I worked with our State Department, wonderful group of people. Becky Cox was the director of literacy, she's no longer there. But when she was there, she had a strong emphasis on developing conceptual instruction, these conceptually developed units of instruction. And from our research, I was lucky enough early in my career at Vanderbilt University to work with John Bransford, who is a cognitive psychologist and the importance of hooking things together, small ideas around big ideas cannot be overstated. Kids remember those ideas when they are presented in a way that makes connections not only to the small ideas, but to them. And when we invite students to be problem solvers and ask their own questions, it gives them agency and those conceptually which programs, then you embed the phonics instruction, you embed all those skills, but they know why they're learning those things and how that impacts their reading comprehension. So you know, all coming together makes so much more sense than the skill and drill programs and I'm afraid are taking hold right now.
Lindsay Persohn:And as you said, those connections really do make all the difference when we set a purpose and when we connect it to something either kids know or want to know, it really does make such a difference in the way they learn and the way they retain that information for the for the long haul. So Vicki, what else would you like teachers to know about your research?
Victoria Risko:Well, I guess in others, so there is this rich conceptual learning that's so important for our students. It's also stepping back and thinking about how can we respond to our students in ways that are culturally responsive. There are a lot of students in the United States who are not reading as well as they could. And I mean, that they could you know, Doris and I have written a lot about students experiencing reading difficulties and we've always been really careful to not call these students, student reading disabled or students with reading difficulties. But instead, it's students who are experiencing difficulties. And many times they're experiencing these difficulties, because of faulty instruction, things we didn't know to do. And I was in that class that first year many years probably as a teacher, but but also things that we have learned about in the last decade or so. So culturally responsive instruction really makes a difference for all students, but particularly for students who have experiencing difficulties, or whose background experiences are quite different from us. It's easy for us as white teachers, for example, to teach students who are look like us have experiences like us, it's much harder to teach students who are so different from us. But that means as teachers, we need to know our students, we need to get out in the neighborhoods, we need to talk with families, we need to know what activities are occurring. We need to trust families, they love their children, they want the best for them. We need to know what the best is in their eyes and how we can make those connections. And all students come to school with knowledge. All students come to school with the experiences, they need to know what they are. And to bridge to those experiences, finding the literature, asking the questions, asking students to ask their questions, what do they want to know, very important. So the work that's been done in the area of culturally responsive instruction is quite informative in helping us draw on ways to make those connections, use of literature, the use of project based learning, giving kids agency and their learning, very important to support. The students are experiencing difficulties because it's no accident that so many children experiencing reading difficulties are diverse students, and those that are different from the teachers who are teaching them. So one aspect of culturally relevant and responsive instruction that really hit home for me in making this so clear, is my work with Bob Jimenez, Mark Pacheco, Lisa Pray, a whole team of people at Vanderbilt University. We focused several years of our work investigating, what can we do to support second language learners. And I was in Nashville, Tennessee at Vanderbilt about them. And there were I think, 78 languages represented in Metro school. So it was a real challenge for teachers, of course, but and we were also in a state that's English only so that the instruction had to be, by policy, in English. But we were able to work with some teachers who helped us think about ways to integrate multiple languages into the classroom. I'll say it that way. We kind of snuck in the back door. But we were happy to do that. And we hope in the long term, we can affect policy. And that's what I advocate for teachers to do to speak up and speak to those policymakers and talk about what's wrong about these strict laws about English only or phonics only, etc. but that's a different that's a different conversation. So we in these middle schools, what we did is we worked in small groups and I have un poco amount of Spanish my husband's family's from Spain, and I realize my Spanish is not real great, but I have a little but my colleagues are fluent Portuguese, Spanish speakers, some had Farsi. And even without that, though, even for teachers who spoke are only monolingual, we were able to conduct this instruction where we asked students to translate what they were reading in their own language to each other, sometimes pairs, sometimes in small group groups. And it was interesting, because at first kids said to us, Oh, we don't know another language, you know, they had been so stamped out of them by seventh grade, that they were afraid to admit they had another language, even though we knew they didn't, they spoke to each other in the hallways, in the cafeteria, and so forth. But gradually, they began to talk with each other and translate to each other. We call this translanguaging. And it was amazing how deeply they held conversations around text ideas and text concepts. They explained to each other they they realized what they didn't understand it, how someone would have an insight, or maybe was one of the teachers who would say well tell me that, what does that mean? Even our monolingual teachers really got into this. And what we realized is that monolingual teachers in particular realized how much they had in common with their students, once they began to ask questions, and realize what they were talking about. And that they had, that they questions that were really important ones. They also found how important it was to set up kids to be experts for each other. So that these kids took on a new role. They were no longer the students who couldn't participate, or that they were the students who were having difficulties understanding the text, they were leading each other. So the value I think of that those examples, illustrate for us how important it is to tap into student's heritage, their culture, their language, and to make that a bridge to learning new information, gives them expertise gives an agency, it supports literacy, reading, and writing and comprehending and how important it was for those students to master those seventh grade texts. We didn't choose other texts, they were the ones that were recommended that we found ways to make those connections and support their learning and very rich ways.
Lindsay Persohn:As you're describing that situation, Vicki, the word that keeps coming to mind, for me is ownership. It sounds like it was potentially as much about owning the knowledge as it was about, you know, obviously putting it into our own words in in a language that's familiar. It's really a part of that process. Is that is that an accurate take on what you're saying is that the ownership was was crucial in that situation.
Victoria Risko:And ownership is essential in that kind of a situation. It's giving kids the acknowledgement that, oh, I can do this. I know this, I can direct my own learning, I can ask questions. And that will benefit me to develop as a reader and writer, that ownership cannot be understated is very important. And it shows kids that they can be capable. That's what's so important for so long. Students who are experiencing difficulties feel incapable.
Lindsay Persohn:Well, so often they've been told repeatedly that you know, whether it's implicitly or explicitly that they can't do it. And you know, by seventh grade, certainly students have internalized that message.
Victoria Risko:That's right. I remember, just when she said, Oh, she took me back to many years ago, I directed the reading clinic, at least I taught at a college in upstate New York, SUNY Fredonia. And we had a student who reminded me so much of a student that I had in first grade many years ago. In fact, that student I taught him how to throw blocks because he was just being ignored in the classes where he went, and I guess that wasn't doing a service, but teachers began to pay attention to it. And I'm not, I'm not bashing teachers, we all have had instances where we don't know what to do and we need to bring that knowledge to the forefront and the questions that we have, but that student and my graduates assistant that year was June Nonnenberg. She worked in various ways to develop Kevin's reading, developing language experience stories, having him tell him about his experiences that she wrote. And when he read his first story, to the entire reading faculty, his ownership, he was so proud that of course, we were all in tears, because this was such a big event for him. But it formed the basis of showing him that he was capable, and that his language, his experiences mattered, and that's what really is at the heart of good instruction for students.
Lindsay Persohn:I know you've talked a bit about culturally responsive instruction, and I too, believe that that is so valuable and just critical in schools. But it also seems to me that that may be a term that has been maybe stretched past its limits, where it means less now than it should the in an authentic way. Does that make sense? I feel like we we just sort of copy and paste that term over and over again, without maybe getting to the depth of what that really means when working with a child.
Victoria Risko:It's interesting, you ask that because I'm working with two other people right now are developing a book on what we're calling equity based assessments. And it's raised questions about what do we mean by cultural response. Or what do we mean by equity. And it's not the same as equality, we're not giving the same to everyone. And maybe I haven't thought about it this way. But perhaps culturally relevant has become a buzzword, I think it's really should be thought about in ways that we need to know our students and we need to teach to our students, it goes back to my early learning whatever is a first grade teacher so many years ago, we're teaching students, we're teaching individuals who have come with us with a wealth of experiences that we want to connect to. But I also think that sometimes we set up, I don't know, these cultural studies, kinds of things around things that are pretty inconsequential, and that have little depth. And it's different from conceptual learning, I think thematic instruction can be pretty superficial. But anyway, I think we set up these curriculum materials and they don't relate to our students necessarily. They may be about Venezuela, and our students are Venezuelan. But what are their questions? What are their specific experiences? And we often find we have very many same experiences, even though we've come from different countries, and we need to know that give them agency. That's what I'm worried about with this remote learning. I'm afraid it's a lot of giving to and not enough asking from I'm disappointed with that ff that's the case.
Lindsay Persohn:I think that's a difficult path to navigate, you know, especially when we we felt such a sense of urgency to suddenly be online and and still deliver something that I think we were trying to conceptualize as, as some continuity. But But really, our whole world changed when when schooling abruptly stopped and everything suddenly went to online.
Victoria Risko:Yes, yeah. Yes. And I think unfortunately, we weren't prepared, even though there are so many educators that are great in providing digital learning opportunities, but I don't know, if enough of us that are really prepared for digital learning that is interactive, that really reaches kids in ways that we bring them forward. And I and I really hope that we take this as an opportunity not to return to what we did before. But to really change what we're doing. We've learned a lot about the limitations of that give and take instruction.
Lindsay Persohn:If this this certainly is an opportunity for growth. I think you can, you know, you can conceptualize this in many different ways. It's a it's absolutely a challenge. But I do think that in every challenge there, there is an opportunity to learn and to to grow and to move forward. It makes me think about the fact that, you know, in teacher preparation programs, I don't really know of any that included a digital learning kind of element, probably until the pandemic, I know my students ended up meeting with children through Zoom meetings and things like that in order to continue the work that they would have been doing in a face to face internship. And I think that's actually a great thing for them to have that experience of connecting with a child online because it is a little bit different.
Victoria Risko:Yes, it is for sure. And it takes me to that other line of research that I have with teacher education. And I don't want to sound as though I'm disappointed with what teachers are doing because we're working so hard. I'm a teacher, we're working so hard, and it's admirable what teachers have been able to accomplish. But I do know some programs have prepared teachers for these digital environments. Bridget Dalton was with us at Vanderbilt. She's wonderful in preparing teachers to hold digital conversations. Her doctoral student Blaine Smith is out at University of Arizona. She is wonderful in engaging students, elementary students, adolescents in digital learning. So those are two resources where you should call them up and interview. They have wonderful ideas. But you know, I was able to work with Luanne Reed and a host of other IRA people over the years where we did a review of the research on teacher preparation. And we found that there are certain elements that do make a difference. There's so much bashing of teachers. There's so much bashing of teacher education programs. In fact, that's what the Reading War stuff is doing now. They're saying teachers are not prepared to teach phonics. Well, as we looked at the research, we found that there are certain characteristics of teacher preparation that are making a difference for the for their, their later teaching. One is building coherence across the program, that students revisit concepts and ideas and practices, and then that those practices are connected specifically to field work, where there is supervision that is a mentoring, you know, an exchange of ideas that makes connections to what they're learning to what they're applying. This is particularly important for students who are experiencing reading difficulties that we begin to understand the problem. Another thing that we found in our research is that it's important to have perspective teachers understand their own culture and their own histories. And this is tough for white teachers, many times, I think that I was part of that group early on, just assuming I understood my culture when I really didn't and, and as we understand our cultures, we begin to understand the cultures of each other. And within that study of our cultures is to help prospective teachers take on and investigate social justice issues in what do we mean by social justice? What are the issues? It goes back to your statement earlier about culturally relevant, is that just a word that we're pasting on everything now? Or does it have true roots in trying to understand equity, that equal giving everybody the same is not equitable? funding some schools the same as others is not equitable, and there are more resources needed in schools that are not receiving that distribution differently? So what do we mean by that, and what we've learned some of the research at University of Texas of Austin, for example, found that when teachers go into their first years of teaching coming out of a program that is really sensitize them to policy issues, that they are much better prepared to move away from restrictive curriculum. They are still addressing standards, they're still meeting requirements, and they're not perfect at this or first second year teachers, but they're holding on to their beliefs and what they've learned to adjust that curriculum. And that's what we want, isn't it to really have teachers be forward thinking coming on as their program and to understand the hard work that's there? And how to teach kids in equitable way.
Lindsay Persohn:And yes, absolutely, I think your point is, is very well made, Vicki that teachers have got to be critical consumers of what is given to them, because, you know, so in so many places, the biggest decisions are made by people who don't necessarily know about education. You know, I think there's this misconception that well, I went to school, so you know, I know what it's like. But it obviously being on the other side of that being the teacher or the school administrator is very different than being a student in school. So there's a whole different level of experience and expertise that comes with that.
Victoria Risko:Yes, and I think we're growing. I'm really excited about programs now that are growing prospective teachers and master teachers, to advocate and to address policymakers and address policy. I think we need more of that we need that voice on the front line, because I what you said, I remember our legislator saying, well, I graduated high school, So it's, you know, this is what we need to do. Very, very limited thinking we need teachers who need to affect policy. And that relates to something that I think is happening right now. So here we are, we're coming out of this pandemic. And schools are going to be back in session at some point, although in some states are forcing teachers back when they're not prepared to be back in terms of the COVID. But at some point, we know we're going to be back. And this is not my idea and I can't tell you can't quote who said this, but we need to take this as an opportunity to change what we've done in the past and make it better for kids. So instead, I'm hearing in the state of Tennessee, which is another than Florida, but it's probably here in Florida as well, because it's a widespread argument that we need to make up for learning loss. Do you hear that is everywhere. As governor in Tennessee, I think they put $160 million into new programs that are going to be basically phonics first so we can get this right next time, which is really scary. And I don't want to be quoted I guess I am going to be quoted. But the other thing is, this learning loss idea was addressed very specifically by Ernest Morel on one of the IRA seminars, and he conducted a seminar with Nell Duke. I thought it was a wonderful seminar they were talking about so many issues related to good instruction, but his point was you to move away from this learning loss, not only think about what we can do better, but to realize kids have been learning all the time while they're gone. They've been loved by their families, they've had experiences with them. They've had sad experiences, they've lost relatives, there's been trauma. It's been difficult, sometimes making bills, all kinds of things have happened, that they've learned about, but they're bringing knowledge and new experiences back with that. Teachers are bringing knowledge and experiences back with them. So start there, start with those experiences as a way to build a curriculum and instruction going forward. Don't worry about learning loss. There's nothing magical about whether standard seven was hit last week, nothing magical about that at all.
Lindsay Persohn:Right?
Victoria Risko:Kids can learn in the context of what they've learned is important.
Lindsay Persohn:And, you know, I think we've come full circle back to the idea that we've got to teach the child, not the curriculum. So we're, I think we're, we're really right back where we started, this is all about individuals, it's all about what they bring to the table and how we can build on that to help them achieve their goals and what they what they want out of their learning.
Victoria Risko:Exactly. And to bring teachers together. I think the other thing that I learned with the teacher ed research is to treat teachers as the professionals they are, learning and knowledgeable, and develop these rich learning professional opportunities, not the one off not how to do a phonics lesson today and something else tomorrow. But really developing these integrated, coherent, professional development programs that teachers direct themselves and the questions they ask.
Lindsay Persohn:I'm very excited about prospects of teachers having choices when it comes to professional development. You know, so often we've done the one size fits all model for teacher learning as well. And we know that that, you know, teachers bring their own experiences and background knowledge to the table. So to say that, hey, everybody is getting an in service on, you know, fill in the blank. We don't know if that meets teachers needs.
Victoria Risko:We don't and there's a lot of research on professional development, I'll plug another book, Professional Learning in Action that I wrote with MaryEllen Vogt, who is bilingual expert, she's out of California. But But what we did in that book is look at the research, there's so exciting research about how to engage teachers in problem solving communities, which really has merit, I believe.
Lindsay Persohn:Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So Vicki, given the challenges of today's educational climate, what message do you want teachers to hear?
Victoria Risko:Well, I, that's a good question. I, at least this is the question and the message that I keep telling myself to keep at it. We know from research that there are effective instructional supports for our students. But do we need to constantly inform ourselves, build our knowledge, ask our colleagues collaborate, get feedback from each other. Teaching is a difficult, difficult profession. And it's not given the support or acknowledgement that it should, we're all working hard. But when I started, we kind of closed our doors to kept to ourselves, that has changed dramatically. But it could change even more in ways that are substantive learning from each other collaborating, do some team teaching, ask each other questions, delve into the research, continue to build knowledge. So very important, continue to make connections to your kids and their families. Very important. Eat, drink in the coffee shops in the neighborhood go to local churches. All, important to keep our learning developing.
Lindsay Persohn:And I think that those kinds of experiences are what helped to keep us energized over time. You know, it is a demanding profession. There's always something else you could do, right? There's always something else you could read or something else you could could learn about another lesson plan you could write, but I think knowing where to put that energy and, like I said, remaining energized in the idea of teaching kids as individuals and connecting with our peers, with peer teachers, it is so important and it is what's going to help us you know, get through the pandemic and to find the opportunities that will come out of sometimes, you know, really dark hours, you know, we might see this, I hope we see this new light shed on teaching and learning and what that can mean for everyone.
Victoria Risko:Yes, it's wonderful, so important. I guess the only thing I would add to that is the advocacy thing. I think we need much more in the way of speaking out and speaking up... writing. I think it's difficult to write a letter to the editor, for example, but I've had colleagues and teachers who write wonderful letters. That voice is so important. Policymakers need to hear from us. Excited about Dr. Jill Biden and the new director of Secretary of Education I'm hoping, I'm hoping that will be helpful for us.
Lindsay Persohn:I think many of us are very hopeful about what lies ahead. So Vicki, thank you so much for your time today.
Victoria Risko:Thank you.
Lindsay Persohn:And yes, thank you for your words of wisdom. Thank you for sharing your your wealth of knowledge with teachers of the world.
Victoria Risko:I've enjoyed it very much. Thank you very much.
Lindsay Persohn:Dr. Victoria J. Risko is known for her work in the areas of teacher education and professional development, teacher reflection, reading comprehension and meaningful learning, and multimedia environments to enhance learning, especially for English learners and readers who are experiencing difficulties. She is co author of several books and has published numerous journals and research handbooks, including Be That Teacher Breaking the Cycle for Struggling Readers, co authored with Classroom Caffeine Episode 8 guest Doris Walker-Dalhouse. She's also the author of Professional Learning and Action an Inquiry Approach for Teachers of Literacy with co author MaryEllen Vogt. Vicki has also published in Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, Language Arts, and Journal of Literacy Research. Dr. Risko is past co editor with Dr. Walker-Daulhouse of the Research in the Classroom column in The Reading Teacher. She was the 2011-2012 President of the International Reading Association, now the International Literacy Association, and as a former President of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers. Dr. Risko have received the New York Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Teaching, a Distinguished Research and Education Award from the Association of Teacher Educators. The AB Herr Award and Laureate Award for Distinguished Contributions to Reading Education and Research from ALER, the Literary Award for Distinguished Leadership and contributions to Global Literacy from the IRA and with co-researchers, the Alan C Pervis Award from NCTE for recognition of research supporting English learners. She is a 2011 inductee into the Reading Hall of Fame. Dr. Risko is Professor Emerita at Vanderbilt University, having taught for over 35 years in the Language Literacy and Culture area of the Department of Teaching and Learning. For the good of all students, good research should inform good practice and vice versa. listeners are invited to respond to our guests. Learn more about our guests research and suggest a topic for an upcoming episode through this podcast website at ClassroomCaffeine.com. If you've learned something today, or just enjoyed listening, please subscribe to this podcast. I raise my mug to you teachers. Thanks for joining me.