Navigating Complexity in Schools with Systematic, Structured, and Evidence-Based Interventions for Literacy

Register online here!

Tuesday, July 23, 2024,  1:00pm - 2:30pm ET               

Speakers: 

Dr. Kausalai (Kay) Wijekumar, Texas A&M University

The Knowledge Acquisition and Transformation (KAT) Framework for comprehension has produced exemplary results for students and teachers in large-scale randomized controlled trials. Results from studies have met What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards and produced meaningful impacts on measures that matter to practitioners. In this session, attendees will learn about the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of KAT, the implementation science approaches used to study the school contexts, and actionable steps that can be used by all researchers to avoid the null-effect trap.

Dr. Kausalai (Kay) Wijekumar is Houston Endowment Chair, Chancellor’s EDGES Fellow, and Director of the Center for Urban School Partnerships (CUSP) at Texas A&M University College Station. She is a passionate advocate for all children and dedicates her research, development, and dissemination efforts to eradicating illiteracy. She has developed web-based intelligent tutoring systems for reading and writing in English and Spanish. She has also developed teacher professional development systems using the same web-based AI tools. She has secured over 80 million dollars in funding from multiple sources to support these efforts. She was elected to serve two terms on the Board of School Directors at the Quaker Valley School District. She has recently expanded the literacy outreach to include ACE podcasts for families. She is a musician and avid gardener.

Multiple presentations, resources, and web-based teacher professional development from Dr. Wijekumar’ work can be retrieved from her website http://literacy.io