MCPER’s Lisa McCulley recently answered a request to lead a workshop in California on how to implement the research-based strategies developed as part of the Promoting Adolescents’ Comprehension of Text (PACT) project—and the response has been very positive.
“You were a sensation,” wrote Dr. Ruth Nathan, chair of McCulley’s sessions from October 18 to 20 at Asilomar 62, an annual conference held in Pacific Grove, California. “And not only because of the thoughtful PACT protocol that you so beautifully took us through, but for your ‘boots on the ground’ knowledge that brought research-based and proven practice to teachers tired of being lectured to, teachers tired of Ivory Tower expertise with little classroom experience being forced on them in daylong workshops…and tired because so many of them have too many students (some as high as 39) in their very diverse classrooms. What a breath of fresh air!”
Conference organizers in California learned of the PACT intervention and its proven effects from “Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge in Middle School,” a paper in Reading Research Quarterly detailing a study that the What Works Clearinghouse recently found to “meet evidence standards without reservation.” Nathan requested someone with teaching experience and work in the classrooms involved with PACT to lead four sessions and an “Around the Hearth” discussion. McCulley fit the bill. Before joining MCPER, McCulley was a secondary language arts and reading teacher for 21 years. For PACT, she both develops the intervention and supports teachers.
For more information, visit the PACT project page.