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Author Bio

Dr. Leah van Belle serves as the Executive Director of 313Reads, a collective impact coalition of more than 100 organizations working together toward literacy equity. A proud Detroiter and first-generation high school graduate, her professional and community work have focused on literacy access and equity— as a classroom teacher, literacy coach, faculty in urban teacher education, and consultant to the Michigan Department of Education on literacy education, literacy equity, and growing educator diversity. Leah is Past President of the Michigan Reading Association and on the state’s Early Literacy Task Force, and a Board member of Detroit Parent Network. She is part-time faculty at Eastern Michigan University and editor of The Michigan Reading Journal. You can reach her at vanbelle@me.com.

Dr. Julie Baxa is a lecturer at Oakland University in the Department of Teaching and Learning where she teaches undergraduate courses in reading and assessment-based instruction. Her research focuses on reading assessment and related instruction as well as digital literacies and has been published in The Reading Teacher as well as The Journal of Literacy and Technology. As a former elementary school teacher with 20+ years of classroom experience including having been a Reading Recovery teacher, her passion has been not Register Here Registration Deadline February 21, 2025 only to teach reading but also to help others develop an enthusiasm, eagerness, and love for reading.

Liz Leitz is an ELA Consultant for the Macomb Intermediate School District. She is currently serving as the President of the Michigan Reading Association, and is a Member-At-Large for NCTE’s Conference on English Leadership (CEL) executive board. Liz taught high school English and communications for 10 years, then was a district literacy coach, before becoming a county-wide consultant. She is a member of both the state-wide MAISA GELN SAT and Disciplinary Literacy Task Force groups. You can reach her at elietz@ misd.net.

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