About me
Heather Conklin is a Senior Program Manager for Literacy at WestEd, where she specializes in secondary literacy and disciplinary reading practices. She is a lead designer and facilitator for Reading Apprenticeship, an evidence-based professional learning framework that helps teachers across all subject areas support student literacy and metacognition.
With nearly 30 years of experience in public education, Heather Conklin brings deep practitioner knowledge to her national work with schools, districts, and state agencies. Before joining WestEd, she served in a variety of vital roles, including classroom teacher, instructional coach, and Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Her career has been dedicated to improving outcomes for secondary students by empowering educators with the tools to teach the specialized ways of reading, writing, and thinking required in subjects like science, history, and mathematics. She holds a BA in English and an MA in English and Education from the University of Michigan.
Now based at the national level, she continues to provide expert guidance on enhancing literacy systems and implementing scalable professional learning initiatives. Her work is focused on ensuring that secondary educators in every discipline have the capacity to help their students become independent, proficient readers and writers.
