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Susan joined Oakland Intermediate Schools, a Regional Service Agency, in 2010 following 22 years of in the field 6-12 experience across two different states and rural, suburban, and urban contexts. Her research and practice focus heavily on the evolving definition of literacy, developmental learning progressions, and formative assessment. At the district level, Susan has served as classroom teacher, Literacy Specialist, and ELA Curriculum Coordinator. In 2000, Susan joined the National Writing Project through the satellite Oakland Writing Project site based out of University of Michigan. She is entering her second year as the Oakland Writing Project Site Director. In her role as Literacy Consultant, Susan brings together her years of literacy studies, developmental learning theory knowledge, and work with struggling secondary readers and writers. She combines her studies and in the field application with professional learning models so as to build learning communities for teachers. In 2013, she launched Michigan Teachers as Researchers Collaborative (MiTRC). The mission: to build collaborative participatory research between university and secondary teachers interested in exploring and developing the teaching and assessing of writing. Susan is the proud mother of four children who remind her daily to find a healthy balance in life between work and play. Having taken up running later in life, she proudly shares with anyone who will listen her stories of racing in half marathons. She laments that her beloved chocolate lab cannot run with her unless she is willing to stop at every tree.