Shannon Riley-Ayers
Assistant Research Professor, National Institute for Early Education Research

Shannon Riley-Ayers conducts research at NIEER on issues related to literacy, performance-based assessment, and professional development -- often working with teachers and master or mentor teachers. Before joining NIEER, Shannon was co-director of the Office of Early Literacy at the New Jersey Department of Education and was instrumental in developing and implementing the New Jersey Early Literacy Initiative. She is a certified teacher and reading specialist, with several years of experience in public school classrooms. She holds an M.Ed. in language and literacy and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from The Pennsylvania State University.