EDITORS: Requests for interviews with speakers should be arranged before the conference. Media questions
ANN ARBOR—Joseph Johnson Jr., a member of the Bush administration, will address nearly 350 delegates from across the United States and abroad at the University of Michigan School of Education‘s CIERA (Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement) Summer Institute.

The conference will be held in the Michigan League on the U-M campus. Johnson, who is a U.S. Department of Education official, will present the general session keynote address at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday (July 29).

CIERA is a federally funded program that does independent research with the aim of improving children’s reading acquisition. Delegates at the five-day conference, which is titled “Closing the Achievement Gap: Teaching Every Child to Read,” will learn about reading and teaching standards, and how to bring new education policies into the classroom. While registration for this year’s conference is closed, the media is welcome to attend.

Johnson is the director of Compensatory Education Programs, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Compensatory Education Programs Office is responsible for the administration of over $8 billion in federal programs designed to promote improved achievement in schools that serve low-income children. During the conference, Johnson will discuss how schools can assist low-achieving children.

U-M speakers at the conference include: Martha Adler, Scott Paris, Deanne Birdyshaw, Elizabeth Sulzby, Catherine Reischl (visiting professor), Joanne Carlisle, Virginia Richardson and Nichole Pinkard.

Other speakers include: Nell Duke, Michigan State University (MSU); Patricia Edwards, MSU; Darrell Morris, Appalachian State University; Susan Florio-Ruane, MSU; Jacalyn Colt, St. Vrain Valley School District; Trika Smith-Burke, University of New York; David Pearson, MSU; Taffy Raphael, Oakland University; Cathy Roller, International Reading Association; Steven Stahl, University of Georgia; Barbara Taylor, University of Minnesota; Donna Scanlon, University of Albany; Marc Hull, Vermont READS Institute; Sue Biggam, Reading Excellence Act project; Hank Taxis, Minneapolis Public Schools; Sharon Walpole, University of Virginia; Peter Afflerbach, University of Maryland; Craig Jerald, the Education Trust; Paul van den Broek; David Dickinson, Center for Children and Families; and David Yaden, University of Southern California.

This year’s Summer Institute attendees, who come in teams grouped by country or state, represent Israel, Poland and 29 states. Delegates from the United States are practitioners and administrators from state, county, and local boards and school districts.

For a complete list of CIERA Summer Institute speakers and agenda information, visit the Web at: www.ciera.org.

Bush administrationDepartment of EducationCompensatory Education ProgramsScott Pariswww.ciera.org