“I am driven by a vision to eradicate illiteracy”
Dr. Rachel Slaughter, an expert in literacy and a prominent figure in education, has dedicated years to sharing her knowledge with at-risk families, school leaders, consultants, and educators. Highly sought after for her ability to teach and facilitate lessons on topics such as "how to teach reading comprehension using multicultural literature" and "how to promote reading using a reader’s hobby or passion," she continues to inspire lead teachers, professors, department heads, and administrators.
SPEAKER TOPICS
About Dr. Slaughter
Dr. Slaughter is a published author and veteran educator with over 32 years in both the urban and suburban school systems. Dedicated to increasing literacy skills in young adults, she has served the profession as an English teacher, learning specialist, and most recently a Media Library Specialist. In her keynote speeches, she inspires preservice teachers to embrace the art of teaching. After many years of teaching high school and college students, Dr. Slaughterearned a Doctoral degree in Cognitive Studies and Reading from Widener University in 2019. Her dissertation titled “Summer Reading Lists in Private Middle Schools: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Multicultural Fiction” was well received.
Honors/Awards/Fellowships
2023 The Philadelphia Writing Project Summer Institute Fellowship (PhilWP), University of Pennsylvania.
2000 Distinguished Alumni Award (recipient), Cabrini University
2003 PA Governor’s Institute for Reading and Writing to Learn Content Fellowship, Villanova University.
1997 National Writing Association Fellowship: International Writing Project, Penn State University.
Local Stories
MARCH 7, 2024
Daily Inspiration: Meet Rachel Slaughter (Voyage ATL)
Dr. Rachel Slaughter, an expert in literacy and a prominent figure in education, has dedicated years to sharing her knowledge with at-risk families, school leaders, consultants, and educators.
Highly sought after for her ability to teach and facilitate lessons on topics such as how to teach reading comprehension using multicultural literature and how to promote reading using a reader’s hobby or passion, she continues to inspire lead teachers, professors, department heads, and administrators.
BOOKS
Turning The Page
The Ultimate Guide for Teachers to Multicultural Literature
Read The Book
Teachers often find it difficult to identify or find quality multicultural literature that adheres to the standard curriculum. Turning the Page: The Ultimate Guide for Teachers to Multicultural Literature helps educators find and evaluate multicultural books that are suitable for the classroom and align with the standard curriculum. The book includes a peer-reviewed metric that shows teachers how to substitute biased books with multicultural literature that endorse the same themes. Second, the book includes reviews, lesson plans, and curated book lists of multicultural books.
Dr. Rachel Slaughter’s books inform school educators on how to introduce multicultural text to students promoting diversity and cultural awareness. Most importantly, Dr. Slaughter gives examples of books, lesson plans, and rubrics to support successful integration. — Dr. Phaedra L. Brown, Founder and CEO of Hope Institute of Science School for Girls
Dr. Rachel Slaughter has written timely and important books. She presents a compelling strategy to get quality multicultural literature into the hands of students and teachers across America.– Hilderbrand Pelzer, author of “Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison“
Now is the time and this is the resource that educators need if we are to create the multicultural, literacy-rich school experience that ALL students deserve. Dr. Rachel Slaughter’s books fill a vacuum that educators realized existed but did not have the tool to systematically make an impact. — Lisa Rex, Senior Educational Consultant at Pearson Virtual Schools
Turning The Page
The Ultimate Guide for Teachers to Multicultural Literature
Read The Book
Designed to be a companion text to Turning the Page: The Ultimate Guide for Teachers to Multicultural Literature, this book offers a nonjudgmental space where educators can take an introspective dive into their feelings about multiculturalism in the effort to generate a list of multicultural books appropriate for schools. In an educator’s journey toward building a multicultural library including books that celebrate individuality, finding quality, bias-free, multicultural literature is paramount.
Turning the Page: A Guide to Securing Multicultural Literature for Schools is a gamechanger for change agents in the public school system at the school, district, and state level. Dr. Slaughter’s workbook includes rubrics and suggested texts that systematically lay out the process for incorporating multicultural literacy into a curriculum. The resource is useful for students of Louisiana’s public school system to feel represented in the texts they encounter. — Nikki C. Patterson, educational consultant, author, “How to Win as a Principal”
Dr. Slaughter provides tangible actions designed to create opportunity, conversation, and steps for every educator to examine their own practices and philosophies related to multicultural education and a pathway to authentically integrate multicultural literature within the learning environment. Finally, a meaningful, timely, and clearly defined roadmap to integrating multicultural literature and learning experiences within the fabric of today’s classrooms.– Kelly Ballard Ed.D, teacher educator, student advocate
Dr. Slaughter desires to ensure all students see themselves in the beautiful tapestry, frayed spots and all, that is America. She has created a workbook that demonstrates the essential nature of multiculturalism in literacy instruction and offers the reader a roadmap that provides opportunities for self-reflection, which supports one in growing in comfort and competency regarding sharing multicultural literacy effectively in the classroom setting. – Connie Grier, The R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Alliance: Collaborating for Educational Success Promoting and Building Respectful Engagement between Families and Schools
EVENTS
UPCOMING
January 4-7, 2025
The 2025 Hawaii International Conference on Education
Topic: Finding, mining, and teaching texts that shine a light on and encourage uncommon literacies and joy of BIPOC while underscoring the five characteristics of effective structured literacy teaching and historical inquiry.
PAST
June 24-26, 2024
23rd European Conference on Literacy and the 7th Panhellenic Literacy Conference. Crete, Greece
Topic: Inclusive Practices in Literacy for Diverse Learners
April 2-4, 2023
World Literacy Summit. Oxford University, Oxford, England.
Topic: Combat Illiteracy Through An Intense Literacy campaign
October 14-16, 2022
The Third International Conference on Literacy, Culture, and Language Education. Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN.
Topic: The Myth of Objective Literary Merit.
July 4-6. 2022
The 22nd European Conference on Literacy. Dublin City University Institute of Education, St Patrick’s Campus. Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland.
Topic: Book Banning Canceled: Using Multicultural Literature and Critical Literacy to Honor Inclusive Practices in Literacy for Diverse Learners.
October 16-23, 2021
The 32nd Annual Literacy for All Conference. Lesley University, Cambridge, MA.
Topic: The Reading Quilt
March, 2019
The 21st Annual Conference PA Chapter of The National Association of Multicultural Education. Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA.
Topic: The Reading Quilt
June 2016
Pennsylvania Literacy Conference. Hershey, PA.
Topic: Dads as Reading Role Models
November 2014
25th Annual Literacy for All Conference, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA.
Topic: Unwrapping Rap: Unpacking Rap Lyrics to Increase Vocabulary Acquisition in Urban Youth.
“Dr. Rachel Slaughter discussed the incredible impact of using African American dads as reading mentors to increase literacy in children. She was incredibly engaging, effortlessly capturing our attention with her compelling stories and practical insights. Her talk was profoundly motivating.” David “Indikator” Fuller, Damage TV Netwerk, CEO. Attendee in Kent, OH. October, 2018.
“Dr. Slaughter’s speech on multicultural literature was truly inspiring, upbeat and energetic which captivated everyone in the room. She spoke passionately about the importance of diverse voices in literature and left a lasting impression on all of us” Katy Oh, English Language Development Specialist. Attendee in Dublin, Ireland, July, 2022
“I heard Dr. Slaughter speak on the topic of eradicating illiteracy, and I was thoroughly impressed. A dynamic speaker who presents relevant research, she offers practical advice, and lays out a step-by-step plan to increase multicultural literature in schools,” Daphane Davis, Speech Therapist, The Learning Linkage Inc. Attendee in Cambridge, MA., November, 2014.
