Mokhtari named Heckert Endowed Professor

07/20/2007

Kouider Mokhtari (Teacher Education) has been named the John W. Heckert Endowed Professor of Reading and Writing at Miami following a national search. His responsibilities will include serving as the director of the Heckert Center for Children's Reading and Writing.

"Dr. Mokhtari brings national and international recognition in the areas of reading and writing to this endowed chair," said Carine Feyten, dean of Miami's School of Education and Allied Professions. "With his leadership and vision, the Heckert Center will become an even more important resource for the critical task of improving children's reading and writing."

Mokhtari's long term goal is to establish the Heckert Center as a leading resource for the study and improvement of children's reading and writing through the development of sustained collaborations by interdisciplinary groups of active teachers, researchers and community leaders locally, statewide, nationally and internationally.

His research, teaching, and service projects, supported by more than $4 million in federal and state grants, are focused on the study of language and literacy development of first and second language learners, with particular emphasis on children, adolescents and adults who can read but fail to understand what they read. A sample of his recent grant-funded projects is focused on developing and field-testing an ESOL infusion framework aimed at preparing pre-service teachers to address the language and literacy needs of English language Learners (ELLs) in mainstream classrooms.

His research work has been widely published in several leading scientific journals and book chapters. He is co-author of the recently published Reading Strategies of First and Second Language Learners (Christopher-Gordon Publishers, 2008)

He currently serves as section co-editor of the Reading Teacher, a leading journal of the International Reading Association, and for the past six years has served as co-editor of the Journal of Balanced Reading Instruction, a journal of the Balanced Reading Instruction Special Interest Group of IRA. He also served as an editorial review board member for journals including the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, and System: An International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Technology.

The recipient of several teaching and advising awards, he describes his students as partners in learning. "Coaching students so that they can share the responsibility for learning requires trust and respect for all students. As a teacher, I strive to see each student as a whole person," he says.

The Heckert Center was established in 1983 to demonstrate models of excellence and to provide resources for the study and improvement of children's reading and writing, said Jim Shiveley, chair of the teacher education department. Richard and Barbara Heckert, Oxford natives and Miami graduates, endowed the center to honor Richard's father, John W. Heckert, a Miami professor of education from 1910-1942 and first director of the McGuffey Laboratory School on Miami's campus.