Experts

Barbara J. Ehren, Ed.D. is Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Director of the Doctoral Program at the University of Central Florida, which focuses on language and literacy. Formerly she was a research scientist with the University of Kansas, Center for Research on Learning (KUCRL), involved in research and development in adolescent literacy, including effective approaches to professional development of educators in this area. She has been a Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) professional developer for over 20 years in both Learning Strategies and Content Enhancement Routines and is a co-developer of the Content Literacy Continuum. (CLC), a schoolwide adolescent literacy framework. She maintains close research and development ties to KUCRL, related especially to the CLC.

A special area of interest has been literacy instruction for diverse learners in inclusive settings. She was a consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in their formulation of the national research agenda in adolescent literacy. She was an editor of the Guilford series on Challenges in Language and Literacy. Dr. Ehren was awarded the Clinical Career Achievement Award by the Florida Language, Speech and Hearing Association. She has a special interest in assisting school districts to build capacity at the school level for more effective literacy programs for diverse learners. She is a frequent consultant to school districts. A recurrent theme of her work is shared responsibility for student success, highlighting the role of collaborative efforts in the schools.