Dr. Suzanne Clewell is a literacy consultant and faculty associate at Johns Hopkins University. As the former coordinator or Reading/Language Arts for Montgomery County Public Schools, MD, she led a large-scale reading reform effort in the primary grades which resulted in extensive professional development for teachers, smaller class sizes, and increased reading achievement for children. Currently, she is a consultant for the reading framework for the National Assessment for Educational Progress and is a presenter for the International Reading Association’s “Evidence-based Research Reading Programs,” as a part of the Reading First legislation. Dr. Clewell consulted on the development of Maryland Public Television’s “Teaching the Reader” video series and has recently co-authored the book, Easy Steps to Writing Fantastic Research Reports.

Dr. Joseph Czarnecki has been an elementary teacher, principal, and reading supervisor for a large Maryland school system. He has designed and taught reading courses from the undergraduate to the doctoral level at the University of Maryland, Bowie State University, Loyola College, and Johns Hopkins University, where he is currently a faculty associate. In his work at

Johns Hopkins, he supplied the research base for the state of Maryland's participation in the federal REA grant and provided instructional and assessment assistance to local grant recipients. In addition, he served on the Maryland Reading Task Force and co-chaired the Maryland Reading Network, a statewide effort to disseminate best practices in reading. He has also

served as a consultant to local, state and federal agencies and conducts seminars nationally on the topic of strategic reading.