West Virginia University reading associate professor Charline Barnes Rowland has been recognized as the 2012 International Reading Association Jerry Johns Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading. She was nominated by a former graduate student from WVU.

The award honors an outstanding college or university teacher of reading methods or reading-related courses and includes a $1,000 prize supported by a grant from Jerry Johns, a national leader in literacy education.

Rowland is the Director of Student Membership for the West Virginia Reading Association, a state council of the International Reading Association. In 2003, she was elected to a three-year term on the IRA Board of Directors, a volunteer position that allowed her to travel internationally and speak on literacy and multicultural issues in education.

“The award especially means a lot coming from the IRA, one of my professional organizations that I have been active with since I was a college graduate,” Rowland said.

According to the IRA, award criteria include:

• a knowledgeable professional—one who knows the field of reading and who keeps current in research and practice
• an innovative teacher—one who initiates and teaches outstanding courses and programs in reading education
• a leader in the field of reading—one who serves the profession and assumes leadership positions in appropriate college, school, community, and/or professional organizations
• a role model/mentor—one who inspires and instructs students and teachers to their full potential and supports their development
• a disseminator—one who researches, publishes, and promotes effective practices beyond his/her own campus.

Rowland’s research interests are literacy leadership, methods and materials of literacy instruction, global issues in curriculum and instruction and professional development of educators. She teaches an undergraduate reading methods course and graduate courses in WVU’s College of Human Resources and Education reading specialist’s master’s degree program.

Rowland will be recognized on Monday, April 30 during the First General Session of the IRA Annual Convention in Chicago.

“I am honored that after being at the university level for 15 years that students realize I am making a difference in their professional and personal lives,” Rowland said. “I hope to be a role model for not just college students and colleagues but also teachers who would like to work at the college level.”

-WVU-

3/19/12

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CONTACT: Christie Zachary, Human Resources and Education
304-293-5703, christie.zachary@mail.wvu.edu