Nancy Akhavan is Assistant Professor in the department of Educational Research and Administration at California State University, Fresno. Previously, she was Assistant Superintendent of School Leadership for Middle Schools in Fresno Unified School District, a large urban district in California's Central Valley. She has worked as a district staff developer, principal, elementary school bilingual teacher, bilingual resource teacher, and professional development coordinator for over twenty years. Dr. Akhavan is passionate about providing a high quality education for all children through authentic, purposeful instruction. She has provided staff development training to teachers grades K-12 on… topics as literacy, vocabulary development, writing, English Language Development, standards based instruction, coaching and leadership. She also has provided training to teacher leaders and administrators in systems and culture change, school reform, and classroom based professional development. In addition to her work in classrooms and schools, she has written a number of professional books, including Teaching Reading in a Title I School, K-3, Teaching Writing in a Title I School, K-3, Help! All My Students Don't Speak English: How to Set Up a Language Workshop in Your Linguistically Diverse Classroom, and How to Align Literacy Instruction, Assessment, and Standards and Achieve Results You Never Dreamed Possible. Nancy Akhavan is Heinemann Professional Development provider.