Breakthroughs in College Reading: The Promises and Tensions of Disciplinary Reading Apprenticeships

How do we help college students become independent learners in their disciplines? In this collection, the editors and contributors argue that we do so by supporting students in learning from texts, which entails recognizing reading as a problem-solving process, supporting students to take responsibility for the intellectual work in their classes, and creating strong classroom communities that help students develop identities as scholars.

Nelson Graff

A former high-school English teacher, Nelson taught English Education from 2000-2015 and is now retired from teaching first-year composition and working with faculty across the disciplines in improving reading and writing instruction. He is a member of the steering committee for the CSU Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC) and the CSU English Council. His research focuses on teaching for transfer of learning, reading and writing pedagogy, and assessment. He has a BA in English from San José State University, an MA in English and American Literature and a PhD in Composition Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Nika Hogan

Nika Hogan is a Professor of English at Pasadena City College (PCC). She helped to develop the

First Year Pathways program at PCC, which was awarded the California Community Colleges

Chancellor’s Office Award for a Student Success Initiative. Since an intensive period of learning and apprenticeship from 2007-2010, she has coordinated the college level work on Reading Apprenticeship for WestEd. From 2011-2023, she supported the California Community Colleges Success network (3CSN) to design and facilitate professional learning for educators across the 116 California community colleges. Her passion is building capacity and helping educators and students alike reach their full potential. She holds an MA and PhD in English with a focus on U.S. multi-ethnic literatures. She lives in Altadena, California with her wife, teenage son, and two incorrigiable terrier mutts.

Rebecca Kersnar

Rebecca Kersnar supports faculty across disciplines as the teaching and learning specialist with the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (TLA) at CSU, Monterey Bay. Before joining TLA, she served for over 14 years as a science and environmental policy communications lecturer with the College of Science. Before then she taught elementary through graduate students in San Francisco, Korea, Hungary, Thailand, and Mexico. Rebecca has a BS in Biology, concentration Botany from San Francisco State University and an MA in TESOL and certificate in Language Program Administration from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. She is also a campus Reading Apprenticeship lead, certified Koru Mindfulness teacher, and National Coalition Building Institute facilitator. At CSUMB her work focuses primarily on reading and writing pedagogy, mindfulness and meditation, and equity.