Ellen McIntyre, EdD, is Professor and Department Head of Elementary Education at North Carolina State University. Dr. McIntyre conducts research and has published widely on teacher education, literacy instruction and student achievement, and the sociocultural factors that affect teaching and learning. Prior to her university work, she was a first-, second-, and sixth-grade teacher in an urban elementary school in Kentucky that served students of poverty. Her work has focused on classroom instruction and family involvement for students from populations who have historically struggled in school.
 
Nancy Hulan, MEd, is a PhD candidate in Curriculum and Instruction (Literacy Focus) at the University of Louisville. She has taught diverse populations of students as a Reading Resource teacher, a Title I teacher, and a second-grade teacher in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Las Vegas. Ms. Hulan's research interests include student discussion patterns in the elementary classroom, instruction for linguistically and culturally diverse students, and teachers' decision-making processes concerning literacy instruction.
  
Vicky Layne, MAT, is the Literacy Coach at Engelhard Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky. Ms. Layne has taught all elementary grade levels and has implemented culturally responsive instruction with diverse populations of students from kindergarten through fifth grade.