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Dr. Donna Scanlon talks to us about considering reading skills and strategy instruction from the perspective of the learner. Donna is known for her work in support of children who experience substantial difficulty in learning to read and on how to prevent and remediate reading difficulties. In particular, she and her colleagues developed an approach to early literacy instruction and intervention known as the Interactive Strategies Approach, which has been found to be effective in helping teachers to reduce the incidence of reading difficulties in the early primary grades, and is used in Response to Intervention contexts. She authored a freely available literacy research booklet titled, Helping Your Child Become a Reader, and a report titled An Examination of Dyslexia Research and Instruction, with Policy Implications, co authored with Classroom Caffeine guest Peter Johnston. Both resources are linked below. Her most recent book titled Early Literacy Instruction and Intervention was published by Guilford Press in 2024. Dr. Scanlon was a member of the International Reading Association's RtI Task Force. She is a 2017 inductee into the Reading Hall of Fame. Dr. Scanlon is Professor Emeritus at University at Albany State University of New York’s Department of Literacy Teaching and Learning and was affiliated with the University’s Child Research and Study Center for more than forty years. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Scanlon, D., Anderson, K.L., Barnes, E.M., Morse, M., & Yurkewecz-Stellato, T. (2024). Helping Your Child Become a Reader. ISA Professional Development. https://literacyresearchcommons.org/resources/
• Johnston, P., & Scanlon, D. (2021). An Examination of Dyslexia Research and Instruction With Policy Implications. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 70(1), 107-128. https://doi.org/10.1177/23813377211024625 

To cite this episode:
Persohn, L. (Host). (2025, Jan. 14). Another conversation with Donna Scanlon (Season 5, No. 6) [Audio podcast episode]. In Classroom Caffeine Podcast series. https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests. DOI: 10.5240/2653-2E1C-A3DB-0EB7-F157-Q

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