Dr. Charlene Klassen Endrizzi, Westminster College professor of education, is the author of Becoming Teammates: Teachers and Families as Literacy Partners, recently published by The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Research for the book was supported by Westminster's Watto Faculty Scholarship Award.

Featuring the voices of parents, teachers, graduate students, and pre-service teachers, Endrizzi's book explores how families and educators can combine their resources to become essential teammates and partners in children's literacy development.

The book focuses on teachers and families of K-6 students, and offers suggestions for three phases of implementation:
- Teachers extend to family members a variety of invitations (i.e., surveys);
- Teachers initiate a two-way literacy conversation with families (i.e., newsletters);
- Teachers forge partnerships with parents (i.e., family literacy gatherings).

Endrizzi, who has been with Westminster since 1993, earned her undergraduate and master's degrees from Fresno Pacific College and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.

Contact Endrizzi at (724) 946-7189 or e-mail endrizck@westminster.edu for more information. 

Dr. Charlene Klassen Endrizzi