Victoria J. Risko

Victoria J. Risko is professor emerita, Vanderbilt University, and the 2011–2012 president of the International Literacy Association (ILA) (formerly the International Reading Association). She is a former classroom teacher and reading specialist, is the recipient of research and teaching awards, and is active as a professional learning facilitator and a speaker at national and international conferences. She was a member of ILA’s Board of Directors, served on several IRA committees and commissions, and was President of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers and the International Book Bank. Vicki’s research focuses on teacher education, reading comprehension, and meaningful learning, and uses of cases and multimedia environments to enhance learning, especially the learning of diverse and struggling learners. Vicki and her colleagues at Vanderbilt University are investigating the effects of Translate, an instructional method that engages students in the use of their first language to support reading comprehension of texts written in English. She is author/coauthor of articles published in Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, Language Arts, and Journal of Literacy Research, among other journals and research handbooks, and is co-author of Be That Teacher! Breaking the Cycle for Struggling Readers (with Doris Walker-Dalhouse, Teachers College Press, 2012). In May 2011, she was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame.