About the Author

Welcome

     My name is Tony Pedriana.  For over thirty years I worked as a teacher and administrator in Milwaukee's central city.  As such, my primary responsibility was to make proficient readers of all our students, students whose life condition alone placed them squarely at risk for reading failure.   In attempting to identify the best way to meet that goal, I discovered a fundamental disconnect between what the research recommended and the training I received throughout all of my pre- and post-service training.  As a consequence, I found myself woefully unprepared to fulfill my responsibility to the children who placed their literacy futures in my hands. 

     Mixed messages seemed to abound whenever I sought new and more effective ways to teach kids to read. And so I decided to  conduct my own exploration into the matter in the hope of discovering a coherent message about which all reading practitioners might unite.  Leaving Johnny Behind: Overcoming Barriers to Literacy and Reclaiming At-Risk Readers is the product of that journey.

     I look forward to collaborating with visitors to this site and maintaining an open dialogue about how we might best serve the literacy needs of all of our children.