About Us
Our staff of expert former teachers, curriculum and resource developers, research and support staff is based primarily in the Oakland WestEd office. In addition, we work with a group of over 50 highly experienced consultants from across the country who currently hold or have held positions ranging from content area teacher leaders, to literacy coaches, to Assistant Principals for Curriculum, to Literacy Directors for large urban districts and county offices of education.
Cynthia Greenleaf
Co-Director, Strategic Literacy Initiative510.302.4222
cgreenl@wested.org
For over two decades, Cynthia Greenleaf has helped students become more successful readers and writers. As Co-Director of WestEd’s Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI), Greenleaf has helped increase access to higher-level literacy learning for adolescents, particularly those who have not yet met their academic potential.
Greenleaf directs the research program of SLI and is currently completing two multi-year experimental studies of the impact of Reading Apprenticeship professional development on high school biology and U.S. history teaching and learning. These studies are funded by the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Education Sciences.
In 2010, Reading Apprenticeship scored highest of all Investing in Innovation (i3) grants in the validation category for "scaling up" a proven educational approach. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, this five-year effort, known as RAISE, is supporting large-scale dissemination of Reading Apprenticeship disciplinary literacy professional development. RAISE will reach more than 2,500 high school content teachers and over 400,000 students in five states (California, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Utah). Greenleaf serves as Co-Manager.
In addition, SLI is a significant partner in the Institute of Education Sciences' READi (Reading, Evidence, and Argumentation in Disciplinary Instruction) research initiative. This five-year initiative is developing instructional strategies, technology, curricula, teacher professional development, and assessment to increase the reading comprehension of students in grades 6-12. Greenleaf serves as Co-Principal Investigator and is co-leading the project’s Intervention Development Studies.
Greenleaf has contributed to several books on literacy and education, including Education Policy and Practice: Bridging the Divide, The Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research, Best Practices in Adolescent Literacy Instruction, Improving Reading Achievement through Professional Development, and Bridging the Literacy Achievement Gap Grades 4 – 12, and has co-authored numerous articles appearing in such publications as the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Harvard Educational Review and Phi Delta Kappan.
Greenleaf has received many awards and honors for her work in language and literacy teaching, including Best Dissertation Award from Division G of the American Educational Research Association; Presidential Grant for School Improvement Dissertation Award from the University of California, Berkeley; and Promising Researcher Award from the National Council of Teachers of English.
She received a PhD and MA in language and literacy education from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in linguistics from the University of California, San Diego, where she graduated magna cum laude.
Ruth Schoenbach
Co-Director, Strategic Literacy Initiative510.302.4255
rschoen@wested.org
For over 25 years, Ruth Schoenbach has developed programs, curricula, and professional development to help students become more successful readers and writers.
As Co-Director of WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI), Schoenbach has worked since 1995 to increase higher-level literacy learning for middle school, high school, and community college students.
Building on prior research and locally based research, Schoenbach and SLI Co-Director Cynthia Greenleaf developed the Reading Apprenticeship® instructional framework, which they describe in their best-selling WestEd book, Reading for Understanding: A Guide to Improving Reading in Middle and High School Classrooms. This book has become the catalyst for an international movement of educators who use the Reading Apprenticeship framework in their local schools — from elementary schools to community colleges to teacher education courses.
In addition, Schoenbach has co-edited two other books — Building Academic Literacy: An Anthology for Reading Apprenticeship, and Building Academic Literacy: Lessons from Reading Apprenticeship Classrooms, Grades 6-12 — and has co-authored numerous articles appearing in professional journals.
In 2010, Reading Apprenticeship scored highest of all Investing in Innovation (i3) grants in the validation category for "scaling up" a proven educational approach. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, this five-year effort, known as RAISE, is supporting large-scale dissemination of Reading Apprenticeship disciplinary literacy professional development. RAISE will reach more than 2,500 high school content teachers and over 400,000 students in five states (California, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Utah). Schoenbach serves as Project Director.
Schoenbach received a BA in social sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, a Bilingual Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University, and an EdM in Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning Environments from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Funders
Support for Reading Apprenticeship has been provided by the following organizations:
- Annenberg Foundation
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Carnegie Corporation of New York
- Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation
- Flora Family Foundation
- Gabilan Foundation
- Institute for Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education
- James Irvine Foundation
- Lumina Foundation
- National Philanthropic Trust for the JP Morgan Charitable Giving Fund
- National Science Foundation
- Payne Family Foundation
- San Francisco Foundation
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation
- Spencer Foundation
- Stuart Foundation
- Stupski Foundation
- W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation
- Walter S. Johnson Foundation
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- William and Flora Hewlett Foundation