The Center for Literacy & Learning

Customized Professional Learning Services for Schools, School Districts and Individual Teachers

Linda Farrell

Linda Farrell

Linda Farrell, MBA, M.Ed., is a founding partner at Readsters in Alexandria, Virginia.  She works with schools to help design and implement effective reading instruction in all grades.  —  Linda was an English teacher in the late 1970s.  However, it wasn’t until 15 years later that she learned to teach struggling readers.  That happened when she was an investment banker and volunteered to teach adults to read.  Through her experiences teaching adults to read, Linda realized that most older struggling readers need explicit phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary instruction at the most basic levels.  In 2000 she left investment banking to pursue her mission, which is for all children to learn to read in the early grades.  —  Linda was one of the original National LETRS Trainers for 7 years.  Linda co-authored several publications, including Phonics Plug-In, Practice Packets for Reading Confusions, Phonics Blitz and Boost, the Diagnostic Decoding Surveys, Teaching Reading Essentials Program Guide, and Coach’s Guide (coauthored with Dr. Louisa Moats), and DIBELS: the Practical Manual.  —  Over the past few years, Linda has spent part of her time working in Africa designing and writing materials to teach children in rural Africa how to read in seven languages she doesn’t even speak!