About the Author

Speech to Print: Language Essentials for Teachers, Second Edition, by Louisa Cook Moats, Ed.D.

Copyright © 2010 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved.


Louisa Cook Moats, Ed.D., President, Moats Associates Consulting, Inc., Post Office Box 3941, Hailey, Idaho, 83333

Dr. Moats has been a teacher, psychologist, researcher, graduate school faculty member, consultant, and author of many influential scientific journal articles, books, and policy papers on the topics of reading, spelling, language, and teacher preparation. She earned her bachelor of arts degree from Wellesley College, her master's degree at Peabody College of Vanderbilt, and her doctorate in reading and human development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She began her professional career as a neuropsychology technician, teacher of students with learning disabilities, curriculum director in a residential school, and education specialist in a hospital learning clinic.

After completing her doctorate, she spent 15 years in private practice as a licensed psychologist in Vermont, specializing in evaluation and consultation with individuals of all ages who experienced learning problems in reading and language. Subsequently, she was employed as the Visiting Scholar in the Sacramento County Office of Education, where she helped obtain a 1 million dollar grant to write teacher training materials for California's reading initiative.

Dr. Moats spent the next 4 years as site director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Interventions Project in Washington, D.C. This longitudinal, large-scale project was conducted through the University of Texas, Houston, under the direction of Barbara Foorman. It investigated the causes and remedies for reading failure in high-poverty urban schools.

Dr. Moats's other publications include, in addition to many journal articles, Spelling: Development, Disability, and Instruction (York Press/PRO-ED, 1995); Straight Talk About Reading: How Parents Can Make a Difference During the Early Years (with Susan Hall; Contemporary Books, 1999); Parenting a Struggling Reader: A Guide to Diagnosing and Finding Help for Your Child's Reading Difficulties (with Susan Hall; Broadway, 2002); Basic Facts About Dyslexia and Other Reading Problems (with Karen Dakin; International Dyslexia Association, 2007), and the series Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (Sopris West, 2003–present). She is well known for authoring the American Federation of Teachers' (1999) "Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science: What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able to Do," and remains focused primarily on improvement of teacher preparation, certification, and professional development.