International Reading Association
A membership organization of literacy professionals
800 Barksdale Road, Newark, DE 19714, USA • 302-731-1600
Shelley Stagg Peterson
Shelley Stagg Peterson, Professor of literacy in the
Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University
of Toronto, will serve on the Board from 2012-2015. A
former elementary classroom teacher in Alberta and then
assistant professor at Ohio State University, Shelley now
teaches, conducts research, and writes articles and books
about writing instruction, feedback on writing and writing
assessment, as well as about professional learning through
teacher inquiry, and children's literature. She received PhD
and B.Ed. degrees in Elementary Education and an M.Ed.
degree in Educational Administration from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Shelley founded the Toronto Reading Council in 2002, serving as president and past-president
of the council. She was Local Arrangements Chair for the 2006 IRA Annual Convention held in
Toronto. Shelley is a member of Notable Books for a Global Society committee until May, 2013.
She is a reviewer for The Reading Teacher, and has reviewed for the Journal of Adolescent and
Adult Literacy, Reading Research Quarterly, Dragon Lode and for Broader Middle East and
Northern Africa Literacy Hub. Shelley has served as the Ontario and Quebec representative on
the Regional Conference Committee. Shelley was the recipient of the Arbuthnot Award for
Excellence in Teaching Children’s Literature in 2010.
Shelley is the author and co-author of numerous journal articles and books, including Writing
across the Curriculum and Good Books Matter. She is co-editor of Books, Media and the
Internet. In 2008, she founded the Journal of Classroom Research in Literacy, a peer-reviewed
online journal for teachers to publish their classroom-based research.
Statement of Philosophy
The IRA can expand our already significant contributions to literacy world-wide through new
technologies. Educators and educator/researchers from both rural and urban communities
around the world will then have even greater opportunities to engage in professional dialogue
and take action to support the reading and writing of all learners. Believing that change and
growth start at the local, grass-roots level, I encourage generous support for the SIGs and local,
provincial and state councils, and the creation of new opportunities for classroom teachers’
participation in planning and undertaking new professional development and leadership
initiatives.
Presentation Topics
Teaching writing
Peer and teacher feedback as tools for teaching writing
Assessing writing
Teaching with multicultural literature
Writing for learning across the curriculum
Supporting struggling writers
Professional learning through teacher inquiry
Contact
[email protected]