A Message from the President of TAIR
Welcome to Texas Association for the Improvement of Reading website!
Children’s author, Beverly Cleary once said, “One rainy Sunday when I was in third grade, I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered that even though I did not want to, I was reading. I have been a reader ever since.” Like Ms. Cleary, I was likely an “accidental reader,” thanks to my parents smothering me in quality literacy opportunities. As teachers, we know that not all children are given opportunities to become accidental readers, but instead need excellent reading teachers. The Texas Association for the Improvement of Reading (TAIR) is committed to providing professional development to Texas teachers.
TAIR began with a small band of twenty teachers who were interested in reading instruction. Now for more than six decades, TAIR has been serving Texas schoolchildren and teachers with quality professional conferences that focus on the teaching of reading, writing, and the language arts. TAIR’s original goal was to offer an affordable reading conference within reach of every teacher in the state; today, that goal is still being reached every year. Each conference is a partnership between a university and one or more public schools. Because Texas is so diverse, each conference is a unique professional development experience, but all offer top-notch learning experiences for educators, for aspiring teachers, and for interested community members.
You may have attended a TAIR conference as a student in college or as a beginning teacher. If so, we want to invite you to come back – and bring a friend! If you have never attended a TAIR conference, find one near you – and bring a friend! Let’s read!
Kathy E. Stephens,
State President of TAIR
