University of Connecticut Neag School of Education

Closing the achievement gap

Opening Keynote Speaker

                 

Alfred W. Tatum, Ph.D.

Alfred W. Tatum teaches in the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University. Currently, he serves on the National Advisory Reading Committee of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. He provides professional development support to schools across the nation interested in addressing the literacy needs of students characterized as vulnerable, particularly African American adolescent males.

He has published in nine journals including Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Educational Leadership, the Journal of College Reading and Learning, and Principal Leadership. Alfred Tatum began his career as an eighth-grade teacher in Chicago, later becoming a reading specialist.  His book, Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males: Closing the Achievement Gap, was published by Stenhouse in 2005. It received the James Britton Award from NCTE and was recognized as a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of 2005.

 

Dr. Tatum’s research interests are the literacy development of African American adolescent males and teacher professional development in urban middle and high schools. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois-Chicago.