Scholastic works alongside many of the leading thinkers in educational technology, child development, publishing, Latino literacy and many other areas. These experts and specialists are available for interviews. To speak with one of them, contact Media Relations at Scholastic at (212) 343-4563 or news@scholastic.com.
Expert Selector:
Marilyn Jager Adams
Ms. Adams is a consultant and expert in phonics instruction and beginning reading.
Francie Alexander
Ms. Alexander is the company’s chief advisor on education, with a deep knowledge of reading instruction, early childhood literacy, assessment, intervention and professional development. She is Chief Academic Officer. She also serves on the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the NAEP test.
Rebecca Bondor
Ms. Bondor is an expert in talking to kids about the news. She is Editor-in-Chief of Scholastic Classroom Magazines.
Adele Brodkin
Dr. Brodkin is a senior child development consultant. She is an authority on children’s academic and social development.
Willard Daggett, Ed.D.
Dr. Daggett is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on 21st Century workforce preparation and innovation in schools. He is President of the International Center for Leadership in Education.
David “Dock” Dockterman, Ed.D.
Dr. Dockterman specializes in using technology to motivate students to learn math and science. He is VP and Chief Academic Officer of Tom Snyder Productions, a publisher of educational software, and has helped develop the Scholastic program FASTT Math.
Bryan Doerries
Mr. Doerries runs a national program that identifies and supports creative teen artists and writers around the country, and is a passionate advocate for arts in education. He is Associate Executive Director at the non-profit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, which administers the prestigious, 85-year-old Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. He has also taught courses in creative writing and literature, and has translated and directed classical Greek and Roman plays in cities across the country.
Ernest B. Fleishman, Ed.D.
Dr. Fleishman is an expert in whole school reform—especially high school reform—and speaks passionately about doing more to prevent high school dropouts and to help struggling students. He is a former Superintendent of Schools in Greenwich, Conn., and is now Senior Vice President of Education and Corporate Relations at Scholastic.
Akimi Gibson
Ms. Gibson is VP and Publisher of the Scholastic Classroom and Library Group. She specializes in child development, specifically reading and language development, and guides the publication of the Scholastic high-interest fiction and non-fiction school and library books for struggling and reluctant readers.
Ted Hasselbring, Ed.D.
Dr. Hasselbring is a consultant who has conducted more than two decades of research into using technology to enhance education. He has helped develop groundbreaking reading intervention programs for struggling readers, including READ 180 by Scholastic. He is a professor of special education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College.
Elfrieda “Freddy” H. Hiebert, Ph.D.
Dr. Hiebert is a consultant and an expert on teaching young children and English Language Learners how to read. She was instrumental in developing Scholastic Zip Zoom English, a Scholastic reading program for young ELL students. She is currently a Visiting Research Professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Stephanie Izarek
Ms. Izarek is Editor-in-Chief of Scholastic Parent & Child magazine, a leading national parenting publication that focuses on the learning link between home and school.
Teresa Mlawer
Ms. Mlawer is President of Lectorum Publications, the largest distributor of Spanish-language books in the country. She is a family reading expert and an advocate for Latino authors.
Mary-Alice Moore
Ms. Moore is a parenting expert who formerly served as director of early childhood programs at a childcare center. She is a mother of three and a Scholastic parenting expert.
Susan B. Neuman, Ed.D.
Dr. Neuman is a consultant, an author and an expert in early reading instruction, early childhood policy and reading to young children. She was a lead consultant on the creation of a new Scholastic imprint, Little Scholastic and is the author of A Parent’s Guide to Reading With Your Child .
Karen Proctor
Ms. Proctor leads all corporate citizenship initiatives at Scholastic. She oversees the donation of millions of books each year and develops programs —including Lee y serás , a program supporting reading and literacy development in Latino children, and Words Travel , a national literacy and family-strengthening program for incarcerated parents and their children—to empower parents and caregivers to improve children’s literacy in their communities.
Wilma Robles de Melendez, Ph.D.
Dr. Robles de Melendez is an early childhood education professor and consultant who specializes in early Latino literacy, multicultural education and family literacy.
Evan St. Lifer
Mr. St. Lifer is a passionate advocate for libraries and an expert on how they can become 21st Century learning centers. He is a former editor of School Library Journal.
Carol Sakoian
Ms. Sakoian is Vice President of Scholastic International. She is the creator of the Scholastic Arabic-language classroom libraries, called My Arabic Library, and has traveled extensively in the Middle East.
Leslye Schaefer
Ms. Schaefer is Senior Vice President of Marketing and Consumer Products for Scholastic Media, managing popular franchises such as Clifford the Big Red Dog, I Spy, Maya & Miguel, The Magic School Bus and WordGirl . She is an expert in the areas of brand marketing, promotion and consumer products strategy development for educational children’s media.
Alejandra Schmidt
Ms. Schmidt is the Scholastic Spanish-language parenting expert, and has a background in Spanish-language book publishing.
Jesse Soleil
Mr. Soleil is Scholastic’s leading expert on gaming, helping develop software and computer-based programs that motivate students to learn. He heads the Scholastic Lab for Informal Learning that helped spawn "The 39 Clues," a multi-platform series that includes books, gaming and collecting. He also led the development of ReadAbout:, a reading program that incorporates game-theory, and Scholastic Zip Zoom English, a reading and language program for English language learners in pre-K–3rd grade.
Janet Speakman
Ms. Speakman is an expert in identifying books that kids will love. She is the Chief Reading Officer for Scholastic Book Fairs, overseeing the selection of books and materials to be included in all Fairs. Several book series, including Captain Underpants and Charlie Bone, have grown tremendously popular, in part, because of her skill in picking them out.
Alfred Tatum
Dr. Tatum is a consultant and one of the nation’s leading thinkers on the topics of boys and reading, especially on how to inspire at-risk boys to read. He is a professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Jeffrey Wilhelm, Ph.D.
Dr. Wilhelm has conducted extensive research into motivational learning and the use of art, drama and technology to support reading, writing and learning. He is particularly interested in reluctant or resistant learners, and was a leader in developing ReadAbout: by Scholastic. He is a consultant and a professor at Boise State University.
Jessica Wollman
Ms. Wollman develops and produces high-quality, educational television programming for Scholastic Media. She has served as both Producer and Associate Producer on 105 episodes of the award-winning Clifford the Big Red Dog and Clifford’s Puppy Days series, as well as the Production Executive on WordGirl .