What is the history of PLN?
Dr. Morton Botel, Emeritus Professor of Education and Child Development at the University of Pennsylvania, founded the PENN LITERACY NETWORK in 1981. Earlier, in 1975 the Pennsylvania State Department of Education selected him to write and implement the PENNSYLVANIA COMPREHENSIVE READING/COMMUNICATION ARTS PLAN to meet the US Office of Education’s Right to Read mandate. This framework and its revisions have guided educators in Pennsylvania to this very day. For five years, following its publication, Dr. Botel worked throughout the Commonwealth to further professional development to support the plan. When federal funds dried up, he decided to continue and expand professional development opportunities for educators throughout the country through a continuing education program at the Graduate School of Education, which he called PENN LITERACY NETWORK. By 2005, over 25,000 educators have been enrolled in one or more of its 10+ long-term seminars. Dr. Botel’s goals for PLN were and remain:
