Original Presentation Date: September 9, 2026, 5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. ET
In this ILA webinar, designed for educators teaching grades 6–12, ILA past president Kathy N. Headley and Victoria Ridgeway Gillis will share ways to increase students’ personal connections with and comprehension of disciplinary literacy content, providing instructional guidance that moves students beyond basic knowledge to more complex, conceptual understandings. Guided by principles of engaged learning, the presenters will discuss the use of writing that integrates teaching and learning supports and scaffolds students’ comprehension of disciplinary concepts.
Participants will leave with new ways that writing instruction can engage students in more meaningful disciplinary learning.
Intended For: Classroom teachers in grades 6–12
Registration Rates: FREE for members | $44.00 nonmembers (includes annual membership)
Your registration gives you access to both the live event and the on-demand recording.
Special pricing is available for students and individuals in countries with developing economies. For groups of 5+, contact [email protected] for instructions.
Kathy N. Headley
Since May 2021, Kathy N. Headley has enjoyed the status of emerita professor in literacy education and senior associate dean, College of Education and the College of Behavioral, Social, and Health Sciences at Clemson University. With an emphasis on instruction for struggling readers, public schools served as her educational foundation.
Dr. Headley’s professional expertise includes adolescent literacy and writing with specialized interests in comprehension and vocabulary. She has published articles on young adult and children’s literature and coedited the International Literacy Association’s Adolescent Literacy, Field Tested and Guildford’s Comprehension Instruction: Research- Based Best Practices, 3rd edition. Kathy continues her immersion in editing as she transitions from the first edition of Moments and Memories: Reflections of Emeritus College Faculty to the second edition.
Prior to her 2018 election as president of the board for the International Literacy Association, Dr. Headley served three years on the Board of Directors. Committed to Clemson’s land grant mission, she also served as both president and state coordinator for the South Carolina Reading Association.
Victoria Ridgeway Gillis
Victoria R. Gillis is Professor Emeritus, Clemson University and formerly served as Professor and Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair in Literacy Education in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming.
She was Director of the South Carolina Center of Excellence for Adolescent Literacy and Learning at Clemson University and was a volunteer for the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking project in Latvia and Guatemala, where she worked with teachers, college professors, and ministry officials delivering professional development workshops in critical thinking and disciplinary literacy.
She is lead author of the eighth edition of Content Area Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today’s Diverse Classrooms, a disciplinary literacy textbook, has authored or co-authored chapters in edited books, and has published articles in Reading Research Quarterly, The Science Teacher, and the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.
ILA Webinar fees are nonrefundable. ILA reserves the right to make presenter substitutions if necessary due to extenuating circumstances.
The views expressed in presentations made at ILA Webinars or other ILA events are those of the speaker and not necessarily of ILA. Likewise, sponsorship of ILA Webinars or other ILA events does not express or imply ILA approval or endorsement of the sponsor’s products, services, and/or views.