Carol Lee to speak April 28

Carol Lee, literacy expert, author and professor in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University, will speak at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, in room 118 of the Illinois State University Alumni Center. Her presentation Culture, Literacy and Learning: Taking Bloom in the Midst of the Whirlwind, holds the same title as her book in which she shares her ideas on what future teachers need to know about language, culture, motivation, and social and emotional realities of students in urban schools. The event is free and open to the public.

Lee is recognized as an expert on both literacy and teacher preparation for urban and linguistically diverse students. Her primary research focuses on the cultural contexts affecting learning broadly and literacy specifically, teacher preparation and development, classroom discourse and urban education. Lee has recently completed a research project in a Chicago inner city high school that involved restructuring the English language arts curriculum, including assessment, in ways that build on social and cultural strengths that students bring from their home and community experiences.

Lee is active in the school reform movement in Chicago Public Schools and taught in both public and private schools prior to assuming a university career. She is the founder and former director of the New Concept School, a 28-year old African-centered independent school in Chicago. She is also a founder of a newly established African-centered charter school, the Betty Shabazz International Charter School.

This event is hosted by the Mary and Jean Borg Center for Reading and Literacy and is sponsored by the Alice Fell Trust.

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