Dr. Ernest Morrell, Zaner-Bloser Author, Named Director of Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University

NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers College, Columbia University, has appointed Dr. Ernest Morrell director of its Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME).

Morrell, who is currently on the faculty in the Urban Schooling Division of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), will assume a tenured full professorship at Teachers College and the directorship of IUME offices in September.

Morrell is a consulting author for Voices Literature & Writing and Voices Leveled Libraries, two new supplemental literacy programs from Zaner-Bloser. Voices Literature & Writing is scheduled for release in summer 2011 and Voices Leveled Libraries follows in 2012.

"We are excited to work with Dr. Morrell, whose knowledge and experiences in urban education bring a real depth to our new programs,” Zaner-Bloser President Bob Page said. “We congratulate him on this appointment.”

For more than a decade, Morrell has worked with adolescents, drawing on their involvement in popular culture to promote academic literacy development. At UCLA, he has done research and teaching in the fields of literacy, critical pedagogy, cultural studies, urban education and ethnic studies.

As associate director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, he has worked with high school students in Los Angeles on in-school and out-of-school literacy instruction, cultural studies, and civic involvement. He previously was an award-winning English teacher at Oakland High School in the Oakland, CA, Unified School District. He earned his doctorate at University of California at Berkeley.

About Zaner-Bloser

Zaner-Bloser, a division of Highlights for Children with more than 120 years of experience in education, is one of the premier publishers of research-based reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and handwriting programs. The Zaner-Bloser mission is to create dynamic, appealing and effective educational programs and services. Zaner-Bloser focuses on distinctive programs that inspire all students to become engaged, literate participants in the global society.

www.zaner-bloser.com

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