NANCY PADAK is a Distinguished Professor of Education at Kent State University where she is the Principal Investigator for the Ohio Literacy Resource Center, directs the Reading and Writing Center, and teaches graduate courses in literacy education. Prior to coming to Kent State in 1985, she was a classroom teacher and Language Arts/ Reading/ Title I Coordinator for School District U-46 in Illinois. Her scholarly interests include family literacy and working with struggling readers. She frequently works with groups of teachers, has written or edited a dozen books and more than 100 scholarly articles, and is a past College Reading Association President and a former the Editor of The Reading Teacher.  She currently edits the Journal of Literacy Research. She can be contacted at npadak@literacy.kent.edu.