Karen B. Miller has taught elementary school for more than 20 years in grades 1–4. She currently teaches at Roby Elementary in Bullitt County, Kentucky. For two years, she participated as a teacher-researcher on the study, “Children’s Academic Development in Nongraded Primary Programs,” funded by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE) at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Making family visits during this time enabled her to learn more about the students in her classroom and to make connections in her instruction, often through Family Nights she planned and implemented. She has coauthored Reaching Out: A K–8 Resource for Connecting Schools and Families and presented for several years at the National Reading Conference. In addition, she has served as a teacher leader for the Kentucky Reading Project and Project READ Early Intervention, in which she has provided intensive professional development for teachers on literacy and family involvement. She also has presented at the National Reading Conference on home–school connections.
