Diane Kern is a distinguished Professor of English Language Arts & Literacy Teacher Education at the School of Education, University of Rhode Island. With over 14 years of experience as a public school teacher, she brings unique insights and perspectives to her role as a teacher educator. She draws her research and scholarly interests from her experiences, with a focus on social justice, critical pedagogies, and intercultural competence development. Dr. Kern has contributed immensely to the field of literacy/English language arts teacher education, co-chairing the development of the International Literacy Association’s Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 and serving as a lead writer of Standards 2010. She also oversees the national recognition of reading/literacy specialist education programs in the United States as ILA’s National Recognition Program Coordinator. Her consulting expertise has earned her recognition as a national authority on teaching reading/language arts (K-6), teaching English language arts (6-12), classroom management, disciplinary literacy and content area literacy, reading research, and administration of reading programs. Dr. Kern is highly regarded for her exceptional teaching, skillfully coordinating and supervising student teaching for prospective English language arts middle and high school teachers. She has an excellent academic background, with a Ph.D. in Education and an M.A. in Reading Specialist/Literacy Consultant, K-12, from the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, respectively. She also studied Education with a concentration in English, Elementary K-6 and Secondary English 6-12, for a Bachelor's degree from the University of Rhode Island.