Dr. Alfred W. Tatum, Associate Professor of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University, began his career as an eighth-grade teacher, later becoming a reading specialist and discovering the power of texts to reshape the life outcomes of struggling readers. His current research focuses on the literacy development of African American adolescent males, and he provides teacher professional development to urban middle and high schools. He serves on the National Advisory Reading Committee of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and is active in a number of literacy organizations. In addition to his book *Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males: Closing the Achievement Gap*, he has published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Educational Leadership, Journal of College Reading and Learning, and Principal Leadership. Dr. Tatum's monographs include: *Becoming An Insider: Reaching All Students*, *Reading Fluency*, *Capturing the Readers, Not Responses*, and *Enabling Texts: Texts That Matter*. Source: [National Graphic Learning](https://ngl.cengage.com/search/productOverview.do?N=201+4294918395&Ntk=P_EPI&Ntt=1639717606944703586190684202217674334&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&homePage=false)