Chih-Che Tai is assistant director of the Center of Excellence in Mathematics and Science Education and an associate professor of science education at East Tennessee State University. He is actively involved in grant activities to improve STEM and Literacy education through partnerships with local educational agents, K-12 teachers, higher education faculty, business partners and organizations. His research interests include integrating Science, Technology, Engineering Technology, and literacy into K-12 education, as well as college and career readiness, teacher professional development, and teacher effectiveness. Tai holds a BS and MS in chemistry from National Taiwan University, and a PhD in science education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Renee M. R. Moran is an associate professor of Reading Education and program coordinator of Elementary Education at East Tennessee State University. She completed her Ph.D. in Teacher Education with a focus on Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee. Renee worked for nearly a decade as a K-5 teacher in the public schools of North Carolina and California. Her research interests include the integration of science and literacy and how policy impacts the decision making of classroom teachers.
Laura Robertson is an Assistant Professor of Science Education at East Tennessee State University. She teaches science content and methods courses for preservice teachers and leads professional development workshops. Her research interests include teacher autonomy, professional learning communities, and the integration of science and English Language Arts. Prior to her current position, Laura was a middle school science teacher for 11 years.
Karin Keith is an Associate Professor and Department Chair for Curriculum & Instruction in the Clemmer College. Dr. Keith also coordinates the M.Ed. in Reading. Dr. Keith holds a Ph.D. in Language and Literacy Education from the University of South Carolina. While in South Carolina she served as a research assistant on a qualitative and quantitative OERI funded study that sought to understand the effectiveness of the state-wide reading initiative. This initiative included a study of 50,000 K-5 students in classrooms of over 2,000 participating teachers led by 100 literacy coaches in 50 school districts. Dr. Keith was previously a literacy coach and reading teacher for struggling readers. Her research interests include disciplinary literacy, literacy coaching, and reading comprehension.
Huili Hong is an assistant professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Towson University. She received her Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning with concentration on language, Education, and Society from The Ohio State University. She holds a master degree in TESOL from Southeast Missouri State University, a master degree in English Language and Literature from Beijing Language and Culture University, and a bachelor degree in English Education from Hunan Normal University. Her research interests include literacy studies with focus on children's language and literacy processes, interdisciplinary literacy studies, English language learners, second/foreign language education, teacher preparation, discourse analysis, and ethnographic study. Huili is actively involved in professional services at both local, national, and international levels. She currently serves as chair of National Council of Teachers of English Assembly on Research. She used to serve as director of National Council of Teachers of English Language Collaborative, vice president of local chapter of Tennessee Reading Association, and a committee member of Tennessee Reading Association Diversity Committee. Dr. Huili Hong's research has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals including, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, Classroom Discourse, International Journal of Early Childhood, Classroom Discourse, Journal of Childhood Studies, The California Reader, Affective Reading Education Journal, Reading Matters, Tennessee Reading Teacher, Query, and a number of edited volumes. She also serves on the editorial team of Journal of Dialogic Pedagogy: An International Journal, and a reviewer for Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, International Journal of Educational Studies, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, International Journal of Early Childhood, Multicultural Perspectives, and International Journal of Multicultural Education.