The Reading Apprenticeship team combines decades of expertise in the areas of adolescent literacy, teacher professional learning, and education research. We are committed to building academic and social-emotional learning for students nationwide.
In addition to our WestEd team, we consistently partner with a wide network of experts from across the country, including content area teacher leaders, researchers, literacy coaches, community college instructors, site administrators, district literacy directors, and regional service agencies.
Our Team
Linda Friedrich, Literacy Director
Linda is the Director of Literacy at WestEd and leads the Reading Apprenticeship team, which has a proven track record in improving disciplinary literacy in middle school, high school, and college.
For nearly three decades, Linda has worked at the intersection of practice and research to engage teachers in collaboratively improving teaching and learning with a strong focus on literacy.
Most recently she served as the National Writing Project’s (NWP) Director of Research and Evaluation, where she led writing assessment efforts and developed and co-facilitated an initiative that engages young people in crafting civic arguments and improving academic arguments. Prior to joining NWP, she served as Research Director at the Coalition of Essential Schools and as a program officer at the Philadelphia Education Fund.
She has won competitive program and research grants, coauthored peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, edited collections of teachers’ research including Working Toward Equity, and, with Ann Lieberman, coauthored How Teachers Become Leaders: Learning from Practice and Research (Teachers College Press, 2010).
She earned her PhD in Administration and Policy Analysis at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education and holds an AB in History from Bryn Mawr College.
Sukhraj Bassi, Operations Coordinator
In Sukhraj’s role as the Operations Coordinator, he coordinates and supports projects related to School and District Services (SDS) while also leading Requests for Proposals (RFPs) within the team. Prior to WestEd, he worked in system change for the California community colleges and is passionate about creating equitable access to education. He earned his Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology and Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley and currently lives in San Francisco, CA.
Menya Cole, Program Associate
Menya is a Program Associate in Literacy and primarily works with the Reading Apprenticeship team. She is an experienced educator with over 15 years of dedicated service in elementary and middle school settings as both teacher and literacy coach. She began her teaching career in a rural desert community in southern California before transitioning to teaching and supporting educators in Detroit and Los Angeles. Her passion for educational equity has driven her work in culturally responsive teaching and lesson design, where she has implemented innovative strategies to engage diverse student populations. She has also had the opportunity to design culturally responsive unit plans for several organizations, including The 1619 Project, Learning for Justice and Teacher Created Materials.
Additionally, Menya has coached teachers and school leaders on disciplinary literacy strategies to enhance instructional practices and student outcomes. Her commitment to empowering educators and fostering inclusive learning environments continues to shape her impactful contributions to education.
Menya earned her M.S. in Literacy and Reading from California State University, Fullerton, where she specialized in disciplinary literacy. She holds a B.A. in Liberal Studies with a focus on Elementary Education from California State University, San Bernardino.
Heather Conklin, Senior Program Associate
Heather designs, facilitates, and supports professional learning for Reading Apprenticeship. Prior to coming to WestEd, she served nearly 3 decades in public education as a teacher, instructional coach, and Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Heather holds a BA in English and an MA in Education from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Rae Elisme, Project Assistant
Rae Elisme is a Project Assistant in Literacy and Reading Apprenticeship. To this role, Rae brings a passion for literature and 6 years of experience in project management and operations-based support in the non-profit sector. Within the Reading Apprenticeship program, they work to expand the capacity of our projects and support facilitators by meeting our growing travel, reimbursement, and invoice payment needs, all with a smile, in support of our shared goals to increase equitable and inquiry-based learning outcomes for readers of all ages.
Laurie Erby, Senior Program Associate
In her role as a Senior Program Associate, Laurie Erby works to create, facilitate and support professional learning communities around Reading Apprenticeship. A former Middle School educator and school leader, Laurie implemented a Reading Apprenticeship approach in both her 7th grade social studies classroom and later in her 6th grade co-taught classroom. Her 7th grade classroom was highlighted on the U.S. Department of Education website: Doing What Works, as well as the current version of Reading for Understanding. Laurie remains active in the National Geographic network of state Alliances working to support geographic education. Laurie holds a MA in Middle School Education from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI.
Contact Laurie
Emma Fujii, Project Coordinator II
Emma manages in-person and online learning and logistics for the team’s federal grant, Education Innovation and Research (EIR) in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Her role also includes project management and materials production for Literacy Team projects. Prior to joining WestEd, Emma worked as an Administrative Assistant at Community Focus – a Project of the Tides Center. She received her BA in Psychology and Environmental Studies from UC Santa Barbara.
Nika Hogan, College National Coordinator
In addition to her national role managing Reading Apprenticeship outreach to college educators, Nika is an Associate Professor of English at Pasadena City College (PCC) and lead designer for the California Community College Success Initiative (3CSN). Her work is focused on developing transformative inquiry-based learning opportunities that help educators and students alike reach their full potential. She helped to develop the First Year Pathways program at Pasadena City College, which was awarded the California Community College’s Chancellor’s Office Award for a Student Success Initiative. Nika holds a PhD in Multiethnic U.S. Literatures from the University of Massachusetts.
Heather Howlett, Director of Professional Development
Heather designs and facilitates face-to-face and digital Reading Apprenticeship professional learning with teachers and serves as an instructional coach in schools. Prior to that she was an instructional coach in Reading Apprenticeship for her district and an eighth grade science teacher. Her classroom work is featured on the U.S. Department of Education’s website, Doing What Works. She has co-authored articles about Reading Apprenticeship for Mathematica Policy Research, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, American Educator, and a chapter in Teacher Learning in the Digital Age: Online Professional Development in STEM Education. Heather holds a BS in Biology from Madonna University and an MA in Teaching and Learning from Nova Southeastern University.
Jennifer Johnson, Project Coordinator
Jennifer Johnson started with WestEd’s Reading Apprenticeship team in August 2022. She supports project managers and directors by coordinating and managing the flow of work on various projects. Jennifer contributes to the development and management of project workplans, systematizes processes, and helps develop outreach communications and PD materials. She also coordinates zoom meetings and in-person PD events across the country, tracking participant data, managing vendors, and facilitating stipend processing for participants. Prior to joining WestEd, Jennifer spent 15 years working as a Director of Education in New York City and an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher in upstate New York, where she currently resides. She has a MS Degree in Special Education and BA in Liberal Arts.
Jenell Krishnan, Senior Program Associate
Jenell Krishnan is the Senior Program Associate of Literacy. She supports cross-functional teams for Reading Apprenticeship, an evidence-based teacher professional learning program for improving disciplinary literacy in middle school, high school, and college. Jenell earned her PhD in Education at University of California, Irvine’s School of Education and served the students of Cassadaga Valley Central School as a classroom teacher for six years.
Diane Lee, Senior Project Manager
Diane’s responsibilities include project and budget management around contracts and large federal grants as well as overseeing the Project Management Team. Prior to her work at WestEd, Diane served as a Program Specialist in the Curriculum Office at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. She received a BA in Economics from the University of Southern California.
Bill Loyd, Michigan State Coordinator
As Reading Apprenticeship Michigan State Coordinator since 2010, Bill has been instrumental in shepherding broad implementation of Reading Apprenticeship across the state. Bill first became involved with Reading Apprenticeship as Literacy Coordinator for the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, where the successful implementation of Reading Apprenticeship was featured on the U.S. Department of Education’s “Doing What Works” website. Over a period of 38 years, Bill’s educational career has encompassed teaching at all levels—from second graders to doctoral candidates—administration at the school and district levels, and project management.
Contact Bill
Stephanie M Patterson, Director of Partnership Development
Stephanie is the Director of Partnership Development for the Reading Apprenticeship team. She is a former elementary school teacher with over 25 years’ experience in the field of education including teacher coaching, assisting with curriculum selection, and providing professional development. Stephanie believes that equity and access for all learners is key and that everyone should have the option of college and/or career. Her passion is to inspire students for the lifetime journey of education. Stephanie obtained her BA in Psychology from Clark Atlanta University and a Master’s Degree in Education from Pepperdine University.
<a href=”mailto:[email protected]”>Contact Stephanie</a>
Alicia Ross, Program Associate
Alicia Ross is a Program Associate II in Literacy. Prior to being hired in June 2024, she served as the Educator-on-Loan and lead facilitator for WestEd’s Reading Apprenticeship EIR grant for rural and low wealth high schools in North Carolina. Alicia has, as a part of the PD Team at WestEd, designed and delivered in-person learning and online coaching to 9th and 10th grade Science, Social Studies, and ELA teachers participating in the grant.
Misty Sailors, Senior Research Associate
Misty Sailors leads the research for Reading Apprenticeship and is charged with growing WestEd’s research portfolio and eminence in adolescent literacy. She comes to WestEd from higher education where she served as a Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of North Texas. She taught undergraduate and graduate literacy and research methods courses, created and evaluated curriculum (PK–20), conducted evaluations of literacy programs (PK–12), and led research efforts in the USA, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa. Sailors served as a literacy coach and student teacher supervisor in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.
Sailors has written two practitioner-oriented books (Justice-Oriented Literacy Coaching and Practice-Based Research) and edited three more, including one of the longest-running books in literacy: Theoretical Models and Processes of Literacy (7th & 8th editions). She published over 80 scholarly research articles and book chapters, with work appearing in Reading Research Quarterly; Journal of Teaching and Teacher Education; Literacy; Journal of Literacy Research; Bilingual Research Quarterly; Reading Teacher; and Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. She was the lead editor of the Journal of Literacy Research, was a member of the committee that revised the Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals, 2017 Edition, and was a board member for the Literacy Research Association.
Sailors holds a BS in elementary education (emphasis in math), an MEd, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from The University of Texas at Austin.
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