Session with Dr Valentina Contesse: Maximizing the Effectiveness of UFLI Foundations Lessons

For maximum results, foundational reading skills instruction should be explicit and systematic. It should also incorporate key high leverage practices, such as ample opportunities to respond and targeted feedback. This session will examine these principles of effective instruction and provide examples of how to incorporate these practices to maximize the effectiveness of UFLI Foundations lessons.

Dr. Valentina Contesse is a clinical assistant professor of special education in the School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early Childhood Studies at the University of Florida (UF). Dr. Contesse works for the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) and is the co-author of UFLI Foundations: An Explicit and Systematic Phonics Program. Her research focuses on early literacy instruction and intervention, teacher preparation and training in reading, and the effects of performance feedback on the implementation of evidence-based instructional practices. Dr. Contesse teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in various UF teacher preparation programs and coordinates professional development for practicing teachers focused on evidence-based reading instruction.