Nell Duke, Linda Gambrell, and others join Academic Advisory Board

Denver, CO, Mar-21-2017 — /EPR EDUCATION NEWS/ — National literacy nonprofit Book Trust announces the establishment of an Academic Advisory Board, formed to ensure that ongoing enhancements and expansion of its national literacy program are informed by the latest research and best practices in literacy education. Members of the Book Trust Advisory Board include several nationally recognized leaders in the field.

“We are honored and delighted to welcome these esteemed literacy experts to our Academic Advisory Board,” said Book Trust CEO Amy Friedman. “Benefitting from the collective experience and wisdom of this panel is going to have an enormously positive effect on our ability to continually refine and improve our program. Our collaboration will ensure that Book Trust is an evidence-based model, designed to produce positive reading outcomes for kids.”

Book Trust Advisory Board members include Nell Duke, Professor in Literacy, Language and Culture and and in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology, the University of Michigan, KaiLonnie Dunsmore, Principal Research Scientist, NROC at the University of Chicago, Linda Gambrell, Distinguished Professor of Education, Clemson University, Ernest Morrell, Macy Professor of English Education and Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, D. Ray Ruetzel, Dean College of Education, University of Wyoming, and facilitator Darren Cambridge, President of Cambridge Learning Group.

“Collectively, these experts bring innovative and research-based thinking to the core components of the Book Trust program: Choice, Celebration and Consistency,” adds Book Trust Board Chair Ron Lowy. “Our mutual goal is to create engaged independent readers, and this advisory team will bring considerable knowledge to bear on that mission.”

Members of the advisory group will convene twice a year and will also be available informally as needed to make recommendations to the Book Trust team. Each member will serve a one-year, renewable term.

“Book Trust’s program is innovative and robust, and as they continue to expand nationally, folding the latest research into their program strategy will help them continue to deliver impact and value to students. I am pleased to be invited to help in this role,” says Nell Duke, whose work focuses on early literacy development, particularly among children living in poverty.

About Book Trust
Book Trust is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower children from low-income families to choose and own books, inspiring a passion for reading that leads to cultivating increased literacy skills and life-long learning. Book Trust currently serves 50,000 students in 19 U.S. states. Since 2001, Book Trust has facilitated over 6 million book choices, and placed them in the hands of students in need.

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CONTACT BOOK TRUST:
Amy Friedman, CEO
720.459.6491
afriedman@booktrust.org
www.booktrust.org