Interventions for Reading Success

Diane Haager, Ph.D., is a researcher and teacher educator in reading and learning disabilities. She is a professor at California State University, Los Angeles, where she instructs special education teachers and graduate students. Dr. Haager has worked in public schools and clinics as a reading specialist and special educator. She has had extensive experience working with English language learners who have reading difficulties. She has written numerous book chapters and research articles. Her research interests include issues related to effective reading instruction for English language learners, students with learning disabilities, and students at risk for reading failure. She is the co-editor of Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, a journal for researchers and practitioners. Dr. Haager has directed several projects focusing on reading intervention for struggling readers in urban schools. She serves as a consultant and provides professional development for schools, districts, research projects, and state education leaders regarding reading instruction, reading intervention, and response to intervention.

Joseph A. Dimino, Ph.D., has had experience as a general education teacher, special education teacher, administrator, behavior consultant, and researcher. He has extensive experience working with teachers, parents, administrators, and instructional assistants in the areas of early literacy, reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction, and effective instructional techniques for English language learners. As a senior research associate, Dr. Dimino has been a part of several regional and national research teams investigating topics such as foundational reading skills and vocabulary, reading comprehension, and mathematics instruction. He is a coauthor of books addressing reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction and has published in several peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Dimino has delivered papers at numerous state, national, and international conferences. He consults nationally in the areas of early literacy, reading comprehension, and vocabulary instruction.

Michelle Pearlman Windmueller is an adjunct professor in the areas of reading, learning disabilities, assessment, instruction, and technology at California State University, Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University and Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. Dr. Windmueller completed her Ph.D. in education at the University of Southern California in 2004, where her dissertation titled Early Reading Predictors of Literacy Achievement for English Learners: A Longitudinal Study from First Through Third Grade won the Dissertation Award of Merit. Her research interests include issues related to effective reading instruction for English language learners, students at risk for reading failure, and second language learning. In 2002, Dr. Windmueller received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles. She has published in Learning Disability Quarterly, The Urban Education Journal, and The Mentor. Dr. Windmueller has delivered papers at state and national conferences, including the AERA annual meeting, the Council for Exceptional Children convention, the Conference on Learning Disabilities, and the DIBELS Summit. Dr. Windmueller taught reading and special education for 30 years in the urban public schools of East Los Angeles and for the past 8 years has been serving as an administrator in public schools throughout the Los Angeles area.

She is currently an Instructional Director in the Intensive Support and Innovation Center in the LAUSD, where she supports principals and teachers in their instruction and intervention programs at the elementary, middle and high school levels. In 2012, Dr. Windmueller was named Distinguished Educator of the Year by the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Windmueller serves as a consultant in reading for state and local education agencies.