Corwin Literacy: Disciplinary Literacy in Action (PDF)

ReLeah Cossett Lent began her career as a middle and high school English, social studies, debate and journalism teacher before becoming a founding member of a statewide literacy project at the University of Central Florida.  While there, she coordinated literacy leadership teams in schools across the state. She is now an author and international consultant— speaking and facilitating workshops on topics ranging from disciplinary literacy to literacy leadership teams. 

While she often provides keynote addresses and one-day workshops, perhaps her most productive work has been with extended residencies in schools, districts and educational consortiums where she provides large-group professional learning and small group follow-up. Her multi-year work in one district, for example, led to the implementation of a disciplinary literacy model, resulting in increased student achievement and teacher leadership. A high school principal in the district termed the experience “transformational” in terms of teacher learning and transfer to the classroom. ReLeah works closely with administrators and staff to customize the learning experience based on the school or district’s unique population and needs. 

ReLeah has authored eleven books on education and has been published in numerous journals, including Educational Leadership, the Journal of Staff Development, and NCTE’s English Journal as well as being a frequent speaker for these organizations.  Her latest book titles include Disciplinary Literacy in Action: How to Create and Sustain a School-Wide Culture of Deep Reading, Writing, and Thinking (Corwin, 2018), This is Disciplinary Literacy: Reading, Writing, Thinking and Doing...Content Area by Content Area (Corwin, 2016), Common Core CPR: What about the Adolescents Who Struggle...or Just Don’t Care? (Corwin, 2013) and Overcoming Textbook Fatigue (ASCD, 2012).

Marsha Voigt has 30 years of experience as a diagnostician and teacher, working with kindergarten through college-age students who struggled with literacy.  She now focuses on professional development and serves as a consultant and literacy coach.  In their article, “Growing Leaders from Within,” she and ReLeah describe their first year of working together to facilitate a truly collaborative literacy learning community.