Interview w/ David Kilpatrick

10/27/20 • 63 min

Teaching, Reading, and Learning: The Reading League Podcast

David A. Kilpatrick, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology for the State University of New York College at Cortland. He is a New York State certified school psychologist with 28 years of experience in schools. He has been teaching courses in learning disabilities and educational psychology since 1994. David is a reading researcher and the author of two books on reading, Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties, and Equipped for Reading Success, and is a co-editor of a third, Reading Development and Difficulties: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice.

Dr. David Kilpatrick is one of the most recognizable experts in the area of reading development and reading difficulties today. His books Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties and Equipped for Reading Success are considered “must-reads” for teachers everywhere. David has expanded our collective understanding of the nature of word-level reading, specifically in the areas of phonemic proficiency and orthographic mapping, which has guided new directions in assessment and intervention.

In this episode, David will discuss what and who have influenced his work, what people tend to get wrong about the science of reading, and how a healthy dose of humility is critical to moving the work forward. Hold on to your hats! David has great stories and lots to share.

Further Reading and Exploration

Videos

Other

The PAST Test

Dave’s Picks

Further Reading and Exploration

Videos

Other

The PAST Test

Dave’s Picks

Previous Episode

Interview w/ Louisa Moats

Dr. Moats has been a teacher, psychologist, researcher, graduate school faculty member, and author of many influential scientific journal articles, books, and policy papers on the topics of reading, spelling, language, and teacher preparation. After her first job as a neuropsychology technician, she became a teacher of students with learning and reading difficulties, earning her Master's degree at Peabody College of Vanderbilt. Later, after realizing how little she understood about teaching, she earned a doctorate in Reading and Human Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Moats spent the next fifteen years in private practice as a licensed psychologist in Vermont, specializing in evaluation and consultation with individuals of all ages and walks of life who experienced reading, writing, and language difficulties. At that time, she trained psychology interns in the Dartmouth Medical School Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Moats spent one year as the resident expert for the California Reading Initiative; four years as site director of the NICHD Early Interventions Project in Washington, DC; and ten years as research advisor and consultant with Sopris Learning.

Dr. Moats was a contributing writer to the Common Core State Standards. In addition to the LETRS professional development series, Dr. Moats’ books include Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers; Spelling: Development, Disability, and Instruction; Straight Talk About Reading (with Susan Hall), and Basic Facts about Dyslexia.

Dr. Louisa Moats is truly one of the trailblazers in the field of education science, but did you know her humble beginnings included a degree in music? Louisa came into the profession in a fascinating way, at a time when the term “dyslexia” was considered quackery. Although she earned a graduate degree as one of the first “learning disabilities” teachers in the United States, she states that she really didn’t know how to teach. This early realization has led her to focus her work on better preparing teachers to meet the demands of the classroom and to advocate for research-based instruction for all children.

In this frank and honest discussion, you’ll hear Dr. Moats’s reflections on her background and those people who most influenced her work. You’ll hear her thoughts about the state of where we are in literacy achievement in this country, the barriers to advancing the evidence base into practice, and directions we can take to get it right.

Further Reading and Exploration

Articles

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Other

Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS)

Louisa’s Picks

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Next Episode

Interview w/ Emily Hanford

Emily Hanford is a senior education correspondent at APM Reports, part of American Public Media. She has been working in public media for more than two decades as a reporter, producer, editor, news director, and program host. She has written and produced content for many news outlets, including NPR, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, and PBS NewsHour. Her work has won numerous honors, including a DuPont-Columbia Award, a Casey Medal, and awards from Education Writer’s Association and The Associated Press. In 2017, Emily won the Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research Award from the American Educational Research Association. She is a frequent speaker and moderator and is the host of the Ways & Means podcast.

In 2016 Emily reported on the high numbers of college students not academically ready for college. This led her on a quest to understand how kids learn to read in the first place; from there, her research led her to the problems of unaddressed dyslexia. That, she says, was the catalyst for digging deep on how reading is being taught in schools, and why that system is failing so many children. Her series of audio documentaries on this topic has had a profound impact nationally, elevating the conversation around reading instruction and how this is such an important issue of equity.

In this conversation, Emily talks about her roots as a reporter, how she ended up focusing on reading, and what she sees as the main barriers to getting reading right for all children.

Links to APM Reports

Emily's Picks