About the Authors

Ladders to Literacy: A Kindergarten Activity Book, Second Edition, by Rollanda E. O'Connor, Ph.D., Angela Notari-Syverson, Ph.D., & Patricia F. Vadasy, Ph.D.

Copryight © 2006 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved.



Rollanda E. O’Connor, Ph.D., is a reading specialist and professor at the University of California at Riverside and has a doctoral degree in special education from the University of Washington in Seattle. She taught reading in special and general education classrooms for 16 years, directed an in-service consortium for general and special educators on strategies for educating children with disabilities in general education classes, and conducted research to develop literacy skills for young children with disabilities. Dr. O’Connor’s research has focused on three themes: the feasibility and effectiveness of incorporating phonological awareness instruction into programs for children at risk for reading difficulties, measurement of early literacy skills, and factors that influence accessibility of reading instruction. She has taught thousands of teachers to use activities designed to improve the reading development of their children during large- and small-group instruction. The factors identified in these studies have been incorporated into the activities in Ladders to Literacy.

Angela Notari-Syverson, Ph.D., holds degrees in child psychology and language disorders from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a doctoral degree in early childhood special education from the University of Oregon in Eugene. In Geneva, Dr. Notari-Syverson worked in a clinical setting with children with a variety of oral and written communication disorders. Since 1985, when she relocated in the United States, she has directed or co-directed federal research, model demonstration, and outreach projects at the Washington Research Institute and at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she has focused on early language and literacy intervention. She has published chapters and journal articles on early intervention assessment and curriculum as well as on language, literacy, and cognitive development of young children with disabilities.

Patricia F. Vadasy, Ph.D., has published extensively in the areas of early childhood special education and family support programs during her work at the University of Washington’s Experimental Education Unit. Since 1989, she has directed federal research and demonstration projects at the Washington Research Institute in programs for students from differing ethnic and early reading instruction backgrounds. Her current research explores the effects of tutoring interventions for poor readers in the primary grades.