Webinar Series
America’s Reading Crisis: Recommendations from the Science of Behavior
Margaret Uwayo (Kalamazoo Academy for Behavioral Success)
Date: March 18, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM Eastern
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Abstract: Reading proficiency has significant long-term impact at the individual, community, and national level. According to the World Literacy Foundation, illiteracy costs the United States approximately $300.8 billion in employment, business growth, health, crime, and welfare (Cree, Kay, & Stewart, 2022). Unfortunately, the national reading scores for fourth-grade students in the United States have dropped in the last several years. The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading report showed that only 32% of 4th-grade students are proficient readers and that the gap is even greater for students with disabilities as well as those from marginalized backgrounds. Early reading proficiency is critical because children who read proficiently by the 3rd grade are more likely to graduate high school, go to college, earn higher incomes, and have greater retirement savings compared to those who do not. In other words, achieving literacy early in life has many benefits for individuals and their communities, particularly for those from marginalized backgrounds. This webinar will discuss applications of the science of behavior to literacy instruction that may ensure academic success for struggling readers.
Instruction Level: Intermediate
Biography: Margaret Uwayo is the Executive Director of the Kalamazoo Academy for Behavioral Success (KABAS), a nonprofit ABA K-6 school, and the Senior Director of Behavioral Health and Academic Success at YWCA, Kalamazoo. She completed her M.A. and Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis at Western Michigan University. Dr. Uwayo has extensive experience in the application of behavior analytic interventions to improve early and advanced verbal repertoires of children and youth with and without exceptional needs. She has experience delivering culturally-responsive clinical and educational services for individuals from diverse backgrounds working across settings such as early childhood, Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI), and in K-12 school settings. Her research focuses on the application of behavioral analysis to improve literacy outcomes for children from underserved communities. She is an author, speaker, and lecturer. She’s passionate about the dissemination of Behavior Analytic practices across cultures, disciplines, and the ways in which Behavioral Systems Analysis can be used to establish and sustain those practices. Dr. Uwayo is a Board Certified Behavioral Analysis and a Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) in Michigan.
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