Zoi A. Philippakos, PhD, is Associate Professor of Reading and Elementary Education in the College of Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research interests include reading and writing instruction for students in the elementary grades, strategy instruction and self-regulation, and approaches to professional development for classroom teachers. A former elementary school teacher and literacy coach, Dr. Philippakos is coauthor of Differentiated Literacy Instruction in Grades 4 and 5 and Effective Read-Alouds for Early Literacy.

Charles A. MacArthur, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Special Education and Literacy in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. A former special education teacher, Dr. MacArthur has been conducting research on writing development and instruction for struggling writers since the 1980s. Most recently, he was principal investigator on two grants to develop and examine the efficacy of a writing curriculum for college basic writing courses. Other research projects have focused on the development of a writing curriculum for students with learning disabilities, writing strategy instruction, decoding instruction in adult education, speech recognition as a writing accommodation, project-based learning in social studies in inclusive classrooms, and first-grade writing instruction. Dr. MacArthur is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association and a recipient of a research award from the Council for Exceptional Children. He has served as coeditor of the Journal of Writing Research and the Journal of SpecialEducation, has published over 125 articles and book chapters, and is coeditor or coauthor of several books.

David L. Coker Jr., EdD, is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. His research focuses on writing development, early writing assessment, and effective approaches to writing instruction. A former classroom teacher, Dr. Coker is coauthor of Teaching Beginning Writers and has published articles in leading journals of literacy, educational psychology, and learning disabilities.