Sharon Walpole, PhD is Assistant Professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in literacy education. Upon graduation from the University of Virginia, she spent 3 years as a full-time school administrator working with elementary teachers to develop schoolwide reading programs. She has worked with literacy coaches in Iowa, Virginia, Georgia, and Delaware as part of the Reading Excellence Act and Reading First Reforms. She was a member of the Center for Improvement of Early Reading Achievement research team studying the characteristics of Beat the Odds schools. Her research interests include the design, implementation, and evaluation of schoolwide reading programs.

Michael C. McKenna, PhD, has been Professor of Reading at Georgia Southern University since 1989. For 12 years prior to that, he was Professor of Reading at Wichita State University. He has authored, coauthored, or edited 12 books and more than 80 articles, chapters, and technical reports on a range of literacy topics. He recently coedited the [i]Handbook of Literacy and Technology[/i], and was awarded both the National Reading Conference's Edward Fry Book Award and the American Library Association's Award for Outstanding Academic Books. His research interests include comprehension in content settings, reading attitudes, technology applications, and beginning reading.