May 17, 2007
Smith named Curriculum and Instruction chair
Lynn C. Smith
Patricia B. Elmore, interim dean of the College of Education and Human Services, said Smith's lengthy association with the department and her high level of involvement with it will make her the "perfect chair."
"She knows the department, the faculty, the students and the programs," Elmore said.
Smith's research focuses on mentoring relationships in co-teaching classrooms, an interest she pursues through the Teaching Fellows Graduate Program, which she coordinates. The program pairs graduate students with public school teachers four days each week through the school year. The novices learn from the masters; the classroom benefits from having two teachers instead of one. The program, which started in 1999, received recognition as a distinguished program in teacher education from the Association of Teacher Educators in 2005.
Smith also coordinates the elementary education program, involving both graduate and undergraduate students, and the graduate reading and language studies specialty. In addition, she directs the campus' America Reads challenge program.
Other activities include: board membership for the College Reading Association's international "Journal of Reading Research and Instruction;" chapter counselor and membership on the national publications and budget committees for Kappa Delta Pi; regional director of five special interest councils affiliated with the Illinois Reading Council, plus service as treasurer and membership chair for one of them (the College Instructors of Reading Professionals).
Smith, who came to SIUC in 1984, taught for some years at the junior-high level after completing her bachelor's in 1965 at Valparaiso University in Indiana. She earned a master of arts in 1969 from the University of Illinois, a master of science in 1979 from the University of Florida and a doctorate in 1984 from the University of Georgia.