Dr. G. Reid Lyon Joins Board of LearningAbled
2008-07-17 16:06:13 -
- LearningAbled, a company that is pioneering a multi-service team approach to assisting children with language-related learning disabilities, today announced the addition of nationally known education specialist Dr. G. Reid Lyon to its board of directors. Dr. Lyon is an outspoken advocate for scientifically based education policy who served as Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) from 1992 to 2005.
"Reid Lyon has dedicated much of his career to promoting the principle of translating educational research into practice. That is a cornerstone of the LearningAbled model and a key reason why we asked him to serve on our board," said Eric Cooper, LearningAbled founder and president. "He is ideally suited to help us advance our mission of transforming the lives of struggling readers, in part by applying strategies for teaching reading that have been validated by scientific research."
"Two or three children out of every 10 have difficulty learning to read. LearningAbled is tackling the problem head-on, both in its services to children and in its teacher training efforts," said Dr. Lyon. "Their dedication to evidence-based education fits closely with my own and holds promise for rescuing these children from a lifetime of underachievement through early, team-based, scientifically driven intervention."
Over the past 30 years, Dr. Lyon has served as a researcher, professor, classroom teacher, special education teacher, school psychologist, and leader in the development of evidence-based education policy at the federal and state levels. In 2006, he was named one of the past decade's 10 most influential people in American education by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (Education Week) for his work in using scientific research to guide educational practices and policy.
At NICHD, he was responsible for the direction, development and management of research programs in developmental and cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, behavioral pediatrics, reading development and disabilities, learning disabilities, early childhood development, and school readiness. He also worked closely with the White House, the U.S. Department of Education, and Congress on the development of the Reading First program, advised President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush on education research and policies for four years, and was a member of the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education.
After leaving the federal government, Dr. Lyon served as Executive Vice President for Research and Evaluation at Higher Ed Holdings in Dallas. In 2008 he founded Synergistic Education Solutions, which offers consulting services to improve educational research, instruction and policies at the national and state levels.
Dr. Lyon received his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 1978 with a dual concentration in Special Education (learning disabilities and disorders) and psychology (developmental neuropsychology). He has authored, co-authored and edited more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters addressing educational policy and learning differences and disabilities in children and adolescents.
About LearningAbled
LearningAbled is the first educational support company dedicated to serving children with language-related learning disabilities by providing a unique on-site team approach merging the assistance of educational diagnosticians, remedial specialists, speech/language therapists, occupational therapists and educational advocates. LearningAbled also is driving change in the educational community through a teacher training program designed to equip educators with the tools to assist different kinds of learners. The first of a planned national network of LearningAbled centers opened in Oak Brook, IL, in 2007. More information is at www.learningabled.com.
SSPR
Jill Schmidt
847/415-9311
jills@sspr.com
