Sutton Flynt, a retired Professor of Literacy Education, has almost 40 years of teaching experience as a classroom teacher in the public schools, university professor, university department chairperson, and dean of a college of education. He has consulted with school districts in eight different states and served on state departments of education task forces in Louisiana, Kansas, and Tennessee.Dr. Flynt's numerous professional publications focus primarily on literacy assessment, preservice teacher preparation, and content-area reading instruction. Professor Flynt's interests led to his co-authoring a column for The Reading Teacher, international, national, and regional presentations across his career.He currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee where he continues to read and analyze current efforts to improve literacy instruction and assessment practices for students.Kathleen Spencer Cooter is Professor Emerita of Early Childhood/Special Education at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Cooter and her colleagues began a Ph.D. program at Bellarmine focusing on service to people in poverty circumstances. At Bellarmine, she served the community and state in devising financial literacy strategies and training.Prior to 2008, she was Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Memphis. In addition, she served as outreach coordinator for the New Teacher Center, working in conjunction with the Memphis City Schools to enhance teacher retention in urban schools. Professor Cooter also served as principal investigator for the Tennessee Early Intervention System (TEIS), serving the needs of over 3000 children under the age of three living in western Tennessee.While at Texas Christian University, Dr. Cooter and a group of parents and committed community and university leaders raised some $3 million to create Kinderfrogs, an inclusionary special school serving the needs of preschoolers with Down syndrome. Together with Starpoint School, a special school for students with learning disabilities, Cooter directed the teaching and research activities of both of TCU's laboratory schools. Upon her departure in December 2003, TCU announced that a new wing named in her honor would be added to Starpoint School as a gift from a grateful benefactor.Prior to her university career, Professor Cooter worked for two decades as a teacher and administrator in both private and public schools serving children with special learning needs. As a teacher, Dr. Cooter worked primarily with special education students in preschool, elementary, and middle and high school settings. Kathleen was honored as a Texas “Teacher of the Year” in her role as a special education professional.Robert B. Cooter, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Literacy Education and Research at Bellarmine University. Dr. Cooter's primary work continues to focus on translating evidence-based research into systemic, real-world classroom approaches for improving literacy learning for children living at the poverty level. Cooter previously served as editor of The Reading Teacher (International Literacy Association) and his best-selling college textbooks, including Teaching Children to Read: The Teacher Makes the Difference (8th ed.) and Strategies for Reading Assessment and Instruction (6th ed.), are used at over 200 universities.In the public schools, Professor Cooter previously served as the “Reading Czar” (associate superintendent) for the Dallas Independent School District (TX) and was named a Texas State Champion for Reading by the governor for DISD's literacy improvement successes. Robert and Kathleen Spencer Cooter and their colleague, Helen Perkins, were recipients of the Urban Impact Award from the Council of Great City Schools for their work designing and implementing effective training programs for teachers serving children in low socioeconomic elementary schools in Dallas and Memphis. Cooter and his team were later awarded a $16 million academic literacy research project in Memphis funded by the U.S. Department of Education using his literacy academy model for teachers. These and other projects in various states are the basis for much of Cooter's writing and literacy work with schools today. He currently lives in Texas with his bride and colleague, Kathleen Spencer Cooter. He may be reached via email at: rcooter@bellarmine.edu
