Jane E. Mekkelsen

          jmekkels@zoo.uvm.edu
          802-656-2244
          530 Waterman
          University of Vermont
          Burlington, Vermont 05405

          Job Titles:

          Lecturer:  Elementary Education Program, Department of Education
          Responsibilities include coursework, internship supervision, coordination of Elementary Education Program's Professional
          Development Site in 3 Elementary Schools in South  Burlington,VT

          Lecturer:

          Literacy and Special Education Program, Graduate College of Education
          Responsibilities include teaching the clinical practicum and the
          multicultural children's literature course

          Director:

          UVM America Reads*Counts: responsibilities include supervision and training of 2 Americorps VISTA America Reads
          Partners,
          one Americorps VISTA America Counts Partner, student volunteers and work-study participants as we work with 16 area
          schools and agencies

          Areas of Expertise:

          Literacy assessment and instruction
          Children's literature, especially multicultural children's literature
          Statewide assessment in reading and writing
          Professional Development Site partnerships
          Multi-Age Teaching/Learning
          Volunteer tutoring

          Educational Background:

          C.A.G.S. in Administration and Reading, University of Vermont (1985)
          M.S. in Education: Reading and Language Arts, K-12 (1974) Syracuse University, Assistantship as Diagnostic Clinician
          B.S. in Elementary Education, K-6, Cum Laude (1973) University of Vermont, Concentrations: Psychology, Reading

          Teaching Endorsements in Vermont valid through 5/08

          Elementary Teacher K-6
          Reading Teacher K-12
          Reading Coordinator K-12
          Teacher of the Handicapped K-12
          Principal K-12

          Personal Bio:

          I have lived in Vermont most of my life and as a result I love to ski, sail, search for the best foliage in the fall and escape to a
          warm spot
          for a bit each winter. I live in Burlington with my husband who is a retired engineer now making jewelry from computer chips
          he once
          designed. I am definitely a book person.  I have books all over my car, my home and my office(see photo). I travel quite a bit
          but my favorite vacations include good chunks of time at the beach reading children's books. It is a fun way to keep up-to-date
          for my work in classrooms with teachers and for my classes with undergraduates.  I have been very fortunate to have had many
          different jobs in education. I have loved them all and learned greatly from each. My favorites were Elementary School Principal
          and Special Educator. I had many opportunities to wear costumes, read to children and create opportunities for learning that
          were fun and challenging for all. (
          At the same time I am deeply committed to providing appropriate high quality public education for all children. Issues of
          equity concern me greatly. My teaching and my work in schools reflects this. One of the most wonderful aspects of teaching at
          UVM in the Elementary Education Program is the relationship and contact with the elementary schools in the area. Because the
          UVM students are in the schools all the time, I am also and I love it.

          Courses Taught:

          As Part of the Literacy Block:
          EdEl 175 LIteracy Block Practicum
          EdEl 178 Meeting Individual Needs: Assessment and Instruction
          EdEl 185 Teaching Internship Supervision
          EdEl 200 Diversity and the Language of Culture in Literature for Children and Youth
          EdEl 376 Literacy Clinical Practicum

          Previous Experiences in Education:

          Essex Town School District, Essex, Vermont 05451

          1986 - 1987 Assistant Principal, Essex Middle School, grades 6-8
          1985 - 1986 Principal, Essex Elementary School, grades K-2
          1984 - 1985 Assistant Principal (Building Administrator), Essex Elementary School, graded K-2
          1981 - 1984 Special Educator/Reading Specialist (50%) Director of Multi-Age Grant, grades K-8 (50%)
          1974 - 1981 Classroom and Resource Room Teacher, grades 1-4
          1982 - 1987 Adjunct Faculty, Supervisor and Consultant to various Reading and Language Arts Courses, Graduate and
          Undergraduate including the summer clinical practicum

          Professional Memberships:

          Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, National & VT AERA
          International Reading Association
          National Council of Teachers of English
          National Reading Conference
          New England Reading Association, board of directors member 1982-86
          Vermont Council on Reading, awarded the Lyman C. Hunt Jr. Outstanding
          Literacy Educator Award 1998

          Refereed Articles:

          Lipson, M., Mosenthal,J., & Mekkelsen, J. (1999, in press). The nature of comprehension among grade 2 children:  Variability
          in retellings as a function of development, text, and task. In K. Hinchman, D. Leu, & c. Kinser (Eds.), Forty- eighth Yearbook
          of the National Reading Conference, Chicago, IL: National Reading Conference. 113-123.

          Mosenthal, J.H., Lipson, M.Y., Mekkelsen, J.E., Daniels, P. and Jiron, H. W.(1996). The meaning and use of portfolios in
          different literacy contexts:  Making sense of the Vermont Assessment Program. In D. Leu, C. Kinzer & K. Hinchman (Eds.),
          Literacies for the 21st century:  Research and practice. Forty-fifth Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, Chicago, IL:
          National Reading Conference. 113-123

           Lipson, M.Y., Mosenthal, J.H., & Mekkelsen, J. (June, 1993). Change in math and writing instruction:  teachers' response to a
          statewide assessment portfolio mandate. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.

          Mosenthal, J.H., Daniels, P., and Mekkelsen, J.E. (1993). The portfolio-as-text:  Literacy portfolios in preservice,
          undergraduate,
          teacher education.  In D. Leu & C. Kinzer(Eds.), Examining centralissues in literacy research, theory, and practice.
          Forty-second
          Yearbook of the National Reading Conference. Chicago, IL: National Reading Conference, 315-324.

           Unpublished Papers:

          Lipson, M.Y., Mosenthal, J.H., & Mekkelsen, J. E.(1998). The nature of comprehension among grade 2 children:  Variability in
          retellings as a function of development, text, and task. Paper presented at  the annual meeting of The National Reading
          Conference, Austin, TX.

          Mosenthal, J.H., Mekkelsen, J.E., & Jiron, H.W. (Spring, 1997). Agents of their own instruction : The teachers' perspective on
          the influence of the Vermont assessment program.  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the AERA, Chicago, IL.

          Mosenthal, J.H., Mekkelsen, J.E., & Jiron, H.W. (December 1996) Missed connections: Statewide assessment andclassroom
          assessment.  Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, Charleston, SC.

          Technical Reports:

          Lipson, M., Mosenthal, J., & Mekkelsen, J. (1999). Technical report: Reading by grade 3:  The development of
          developmentally appropriate and instructionally informative assessments.  Unpublished manuscript, University of Vermont,
          Burlington, VT.

          Grant Related Work:

          Lipson, M.Y., Mosenthal, J.H., & Mekkelsen, J.E.(1999). Comprehension Section of the Vermont DRA, 1997-98 for 1998
          implementation version and revisions for 1999 implementation. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.

          Mekkelsen, J. E.  & Mosenthal, J.H. (July 1998). Increasing pre-service teacher knowledge through collaborative and
          systematic observation during literacy block practicum in area elementary schools. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont.
          [Co-principal investigator and author on instructional incentive grant from the University of Vermont.  The study involves the
          use of audio and video recordings of students' practicum work.]

          Lipson and James H. Mosenthal (1997-99) Research and Development on ìReading by Grade 3î, Burlington, VT: University of
          Vermont.  [Co-author and Co-investigator on research project funded by a grant from the Northeast and Islands Regional
          Laboratory at Brown University. This study involves developing and investigating the impact of the comprehension
          component of a 2nd grade statewide reading assessment. 1997-2000.

          Lipson, M.Y., Mosenthal, J.H., & Mekkelsen, J.E.(June 1993. Change in math and writing instruction: Teachers' resonse to a
          statewide
          assessment portfolio mandate. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont. [Co-author and Co-investigator on research project
          funded by The Spencer Foundation, Chicago, IL. The study involves the investigation of the impact of a statewide writing
          portfolio assessment on classroom instruction in 5th grade

          Lipson, M.Y., Mosenthal, J.H., & Mekkelsen, J.E.( August, 1996). Final Report to the Spencer Foundation: Teachersí
          Response to a Statewide Assessment Portfolio Initiative. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont. [Co-author and
          Co-investigator on research project funded by The Spencer Foundation, Chicago, IL. The study involves the investigation of
          the impact of a statewide writing portfolio assessment on classroom instruction in 5th, Co-author with Marjorie Y. Lipson and
          James P. Mosenthal,

          Mekkelsen, J.E., Lipson, M.Y., Sandoval, D.S., (1992). Multicultural childrenís literature: Its role in the elementary school
          classroom,
          Burlington, VT: University of Vermont. [Co-principal investigator and author on instructional incentive grant from the
          University of Vermont. The is a study of multicultural children's literature with a group of area educators to develop a UVM
          Graduate course for teachers.]

          Director and author of Title IV-C Planning Grant and Title IV-C Major Grant for Study and Implementation of Multi-Age
          Programs Grades K-8, Essex Town School District, Essex Town, VT.1980 - 1984.

          Teacher Educator Resources:

          Mekkelsen, J.E. (1990). Instructor's Resource Book to accompany: Reading Instruction for Today. Jana M. Mason, Kathryn
          H. Au. Boston: ScottForesman/Little Brown

          Selected Recent Presentations:

          Statewide Assessment And The Nature Of Children's Retellings, National Reading Conference, Austin, Texas., December
          1998.

          The Use of Retellings in Instruction and Assessment, Vermont Council on Reading, Annual Conference, Rutland, VT. April
          1998

          Diversity and the Language of Culture in Literature for Children, Vermont Council on Reading/Vermont Council of Teachers of
          English,
          Annual Conference, Burlington, VT, 1997

          Teachers' Perspectives on the Statewide Assessment System: Writing Portfolios New England Reading Association Annual
          Conference Burlington, Vermont November 5-7, 1995

          Change: Teachers as Agents, Teachers As Targets: A Statewide Assessment Mandate and its Influences, National Reading
          Conference, New Orleans, LA, 1995

          Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners in the Classroom, Vermont Council on Reading/Vermont Council of Teachers of
          English, Annual Conference, Burlington, VT, 1995

          Diversity and the Language of Culture in Literature for Children, New England Reading Association, Annual Conference,
          Burlington, VT, 1995