Peggy Robertson has taught kindergarten, first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth grade, beginning her career in Missouri and continuing in Kansas, for a total of ten years.

She was hired by Richard C. Owen Publishers in 2001 to serve as a Learning Network Coordinator and spent the next three years training teacher leaders and administrators in educational theory and practice in the state of Colorado, as well as around the country during the summer months.

In 2004 she was hired as the Literacy Coordinator by the Adams 50 School District in Westminster, Colorado. While working in Adams 50 she mentored teachers and administrators and supported them in the writing and implementation of school development plans.

She earned her master’s degree in English as a Second Language at Southeast Missouri State University. She currently is an instructional coach at an elementary school and devotes the rest of her time to her work at United Opt Out National. Contact Peggy at writepeg@juno.com or 720-810-5593.

I taught special education for many years. I left teaching due to the current reforms that are taking over the nation’s classrooms. I am now committed to writing about the profession that I hold dear and the public schools that are critically important to the future of America and its children.

Along with my book, Misguided Education Reform: Debating the Impact on Students, I have been published in Phi Delta Kappan and Education Week. I am an activist on the issue of safe school facilities. In 2012, I was invited to speak about school building safety at the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s annual meeting in Memphis, Tennessee.

I have a B.S. degree in special education from Central Michigan University, a M.Ed in special education from the University of North Florida, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Florida State University. I earned credentials in teaching students with emotional disabilities, learning disabilities, developmental disabilities, and school administration. I also obtained post-doc credentials in teaching gifted and talented from the University of South Florida. My student teaching involved working under wonderfully talented veteran teachers who I still hold in high regard.

As a professional and scholar I conscientiously and actively pursue professional activities in order to keep myself current with issues and concerns surrounding reading and language arts, maintain and expand professional relationships with colleagues in my discipline and other related disciplines, continue to be a relevant and productive contributor to my discipline and other related disciplines, and to add visibility to my department, school, and university.

Among my professional affiliations include: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), National Reading Conference (NRC), International Reading Association (IRA), Connecticut Association for Reading Research (CARR), New England Reading Association (NERA), Phi Delta Kappa, CCSU Chapter (PDK), and the Center for Expansion of Language and Thinking (CELT). I am also active in the Connecticut Literacy Think Tank, a consortium of professional educators who are either directly or indirectly involved in reading and language arts from the State of Connecticut, i.e., Central Connecticut State University, Southern Connecticut State University, Western Connecticut State University, Eastern Connecticut State University, St. Joseph’s College, University of Hartford, University of Bridgeport, University of Connecticut, and the State Department of Education/Bureau of Curriculum and Instruction. The Think Tank committee serves as a consulting/advisory body to the Connecticut Association for Reading Research and the Connecticut Reading Association on issues that impact on curriculum and instruction, and assessments in reading and language arts in the state of Connecticut. I also served as Publication Chair and Editor for the Connecticut Association for Reading Research (CARR). CARR is a professional organization dedicated to the enhancement and improvement of professional development of reading and language arts educators in Connecticut. It advocates leadership in support of research, policy and practice that improves reading instruction and supports the best interests of all learners and reading professionals. It also encourages and supports research at all levels of reading and language arts education to promote informed decision making by reading professionals, policy makers, and the public. Through CARR, our graduate students in reading and language arts have received scholarships and research awards. Additionally, I am Treasurer and Chair of the Membership Committee of the Phi Delta Kappa, CCSU Chapter. PDK is an international professional association in education designed to stimulate the professional growth of members and to deal with current problems and issues related to public education. My appointment to the State of Connecticut Task Force for helping struggling readers in Connecticut grades four to nine is beneficial to our department particularly in informing our curriculum and instruction in the clinical sequence—diagnosis and remediation in reading and language arts.

I have always been passionate and committed to working with teachers in classroom practice as well as parents in supporting their children’s literacy learning through professional development programs. I facilitated a series of Annual Parent University Collaborative Professional Development Project in the New Britain Consolidated Schools (2007, 2008 & 2009).

Recently, I have been invited to serve on the Board of the New Britain Grade-Level Reading Campaign, a funded program in collaboration with the Annie E. Casey Grade Level Reading Campaign, the Connecticut Center for School Change, the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, and the Connecticut Department of Education to ensure that all students in New Britain are reading at grade level by the end of grade 3, and the Welcome to My World Autism-a support group for parents with children with autism. Serving on executive boards allows me to influence policies or decisions that impact student learning.

Teachers—and the culture in which they work—have the most significant impact on student achievement. Teachers must have a deep understanding of instruction; that is, they must (1) understand the principles that govern how the human mind integrates, processes, stores and masters new skills and information, and (2) be skilled in implementing instructional strategies that capitalize on those learning principles.

It is my responsibility to put the most highly skilled teachers in front of my students; to engage teachers in continuous professional learning of effective instructional practices; and to orchestrate and invest in a collaborative adult learning environment that gets groups of teachers working together with purpose and persistence--an environment that respects the infinite intellectual capacity of teachers to identity problems and to work collaboratively to solve them.

At my current school we are in year three of a six-to-eight-year effort to completely transform teaching and learning through a combination of directed professional education, collaborative-teacher directed learning communities focused on problem solving, and the capacity building to bring it all together. Data has a place in our work, but it does not drive our efforts, it informs them. Our efforts are driven by our love for our students, our respect for our profession, and the sense of responsibility and purpose that each of us experiences as we work with our students.

After just two-and-a-half years, our results have been impressive. Some of our achievement information is illustrated below.

Unfortunately, our politicians and their education appointees do not always have an appreciation for--or understanding of--the systems and resources it takes to develop and maintain high performing schools and school systems. As a result, I have engaged in advocacy for our city's public schools