Kentucky’s first ever literacy research symposium brought to this state several of the foremost thinkers and researchers in the field of literacy research. Over the course of two days, April 29-30, at Spindletop Hall national literacy specialists, researchers, teachers, and educational leaders from across the state addressed several pressing issues regarding Kentucky literacy: family literacy, No Child Left Behind, and Closing the Achievement Gap.

Janice F. Almasi, The Carol Lee Robertson Endowed Professor for Literacy at the UK College of Education, was host of the event. Before the research presentations on Friday morning, Almasi presented Carol Lee Robertson the first annual Friend of Literacy award. Robertson, a College of Education student and benefactor, established the endowed professorship in literacy at the College of Education.

Among the guest speakers at the Kentucky Literacy Research Symposium were Cheryl Brown Henderson and Linda Brown Thompson, daughters of the famed plaintiff, Rev. Oliver Brown, from the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown, et al. vs. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, et al. Other speakers included Flora Rodriguez-Brown, Geneva Gay, Kaye Lowe, Brenda Logan, Anne McGill-Franzen, Felicia Cummings-Smith, and Laura Westberg.

The Collaborative Center for Literacy Development, The Carol Lee Robertson Endowment for Literacy, and the President’s Commission on Diversity were the symposium’s sponsors.