I have a B.A. in Psychology and Counseling and human development, a Special Education teaching certification, and an M.A. in Learning Disability Evaluation and Remediation from the University of Haifa. Currently, I serve as a research and scientific coordinator at the Edmond J. Safra Research Center, and I am also involved as a pedagogical developer and coordinator of the “Or” and the “Island of Understanding” intervention programs. I am also a lecturer in professional development of elementary school literacy teachers (grades 1-5). Recently, I submitted my Ph.D. dissertation to the Department of Learning Disabilities. Under the supervision of Prof. Tami Katzir, my research focuses on the developmental aspects of digital reading. The primary objectives of my research are to examine the differences between reading from screens and paper and to enhance our understanding of the optimal text display properties for beginning readers.

Thesis title:

Exploring a Developmental Model for Digital Reading: Insights from Students in Elementary Grades and Their Teachers

Thesis Presentations: 

Dotan, S. & Katzir, T. The process of digital reading among young developing readers: Insights from the COVID-19 Pandemic. University of Haifa, Israel, June, 2023. 

Katzir, T., Lipka, O., Shaul, S., Dotan, S., & Bufman, A. What can be learned from implementation processes of educational field research? Connecting action and research in education, Ben Gurion University, Be’er Sheva, October 2022.

Dotan, S., & Katzir T. Do children who learned to read during Covid-19 read better from screens? (poster presentation). 15th annual International Conference of Education Research and Innovation (ICERI), Seville, Spain, November 2022.

Stolarsky, G., Dotan S., & Katzir, T. How does mother tongue impact reading anxiety among second-grade poor readers? (poster presentation), Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR), California, USA, July, 2021.

Stolarsky, G., Dotan S., & Katzir, T. Reading anxiety in minority language children (poster presentation). Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) virtual annual conference, April, 2021.

Mahameed, H., Dotan S., & Katzir, T. The role of home literacy environment in reading achievement, attitudes, and emotions in the Arabic speaking children (poster presentation). Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) virtual annual conference, April, 2021.

Mahameed, A., Dotan S., & Katzir, T. The role of emotional factors in reading comprehension among Arabic-speaking students in fourth and fifth grades (poster presentation). Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) virtual annual conference, April, 2021.

Dotan, S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., & Shaul, S. Literacy teacher’s perception on distant teaching during covid 19 (virtual presentation). 13th annual International Conference of Education Research and Innovation (ICERI), November, 2020.

Dotan, S., & Katzir T. Mind the Gap – increased inter-letter spacing as means of improving reading performance (poster presentation). society for scientific studies of reading (SSSR), Brighton, England, July, 2018.

Katzir, T., Lipka O., & Dotan, S. The Island of Understanding intervention program- the magic of reading and reading comprehension (poster presentation). Observing pedagogy: spirit, mindfulness, and magic in education. Mofet institute, Israel, March, 2018. 

Dotan, S., & Katzir, T. Between the reader and the text in the technological era (Spoken presentation). EGDAL conference, Bar Ilan University , Israel, March, 2018.

Publications: 

Dotan, S., & Katzir, T. (2018). Mind the gap: Increased inter-letter spacing as a means of improving reading performance. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 174, 13-28.‏ 

Katzir, T., Kim, Y.S., & Dotan, S. (2018). Reading Self-concept and Reading Anxiety in second grade children: The roles of word reading, emergent literacy skills, working memory and gender. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1180.

Dotan, S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., Shaul, S. (2021). Elementary School Literacy Teachers’ Perceptions and Challenges During COVID-19. Academia Letters, Article 898. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL898. 

Segal, A., Dotan, S., & Katzir, T. (2022). Development over time of the reading self-concept in fourth-and fifth-grade students. Current Psychology, 1-12.‏ 

Dotan ,S., Shaul, S., Katzir, T., & Lipka, O., (2022). Screening, identifying and characterizing struggling readers in second grade: The promise of fluency measures. Report submitted to the Chief of Science, Israeli Ministry of Education (In Hebrew).  

Dotan ,S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., & Shaul, S., (2022). Heterogeneity in response to intervention in the second tier of struggling readers in second grade – examining teacher, system, and student factors. Report submitted to the Chief of Science, Israeli Ministry of Education (In Hebrew).

Dotan ,S., Katzir, T., Lipka, O., & Shaul, S., (2022). Implementation of RTI reform in Israel on a large scale: Extracting principles from the OR project in the city of Be'er Sheva. Report submitted to the Chief of Science, Israeli Ministry of Education (In Hebrew).  

Dotan, S. (2016) Vocabulary. In Lipka, O. & Katzir, T. (Editors). Teacher Handbook: Between Emotion, Cognition, and Reading Comprehension: From Theory to Practice. Haifa, University of Haifa. (In Hebrew).  

Dotan.shahar@gmail.com

I have a B.A. in Special Education and in English Language & Literature Haifa andan M.A in Learning Disability Evaluation and Remediation both from Haifa University. I am currently working at Ort Braude College as a students'counselor and lecturer of learning strategies in the Pre-Academic Studies Unit, focusing on improving teaching strategies for students with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorders.During 2004-2015, I worked in several interdisciplinary diagnosis and treatment centers in Nahariyaas well asunder the Ministry of Educationat the Mati Support Center and at the Pisga Professional Development Centeras a guide andan expert in the diagnosis and remediation of learning disabilities in children, adolescents and adults. 

Research topic: 

I am currently a PHD student in the Department of Learning Disabilities. My current research, under the supervision of Prof. Tami Katzir and Prof. Emanuel Tirosh, focuses on investigatingthe role of Executive Functions and Self- Regulation in Reading Comprehension among college students with and without ADHD. The main purposes of my research are: to address differences between the research groups in Reading Comprehension achievements and Metacomprehension processes in relation to Executive Functions, to explore whether ADHD college students who have reading comprehension difficulties (poor comprehenders) tend to make overestimations with respect to their self-ratings of competence, and whether these are related to deficits in Executive Functions and whether it is a general trait or task driven.

Thesis title: 

The Role of Executive Functions and Self- Regulation inReading Comprehension among College Students with and without ADHD 

Thesis Presentations: 

Markovich, V., Karni, A., &Tirosh E. (2016). The correlation between Attention, Executive Functions and Reading Comprehension in young adult students. Poster will be presented at the Society of Scientific Studies of Reading 23rd annual meeting in July 2016, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal. 

Markovich, V., Karni, A., &Tirosh E. (2015). The correlation between Attention, Executive Functions and Reading Comprehension in young adult students. Poster presented at the conference of Cognitive and Neurocognitive Aspects of Learning Abilities and Disabilities in Haifa University, Israel. 

Markovich, V., Karni, A., &Tirosh E. (2015) The Correlation between Attention, Executive Functions and Reading Comprehension in Young Adult Students. Poster presented at the summer conference of The Israel Association for Literacy and Language. 

Markovich, V., Karni, A., &Tirosh E. (2014). The Correlation between Attention, Executive Functions and Reading Comprehension. A presentation at the Israeli Society for Child Development & Rehabilitation Conference, ICC Jerusalem – International Convention Center, Israel. 

Publications: 

Markovich, V., Karni, A., &Tirosh E. (2015). The Correlation between Attention, Executive Functions and Reading Comprehension in Young Adult Students. (under review). 

Katzir, T., Markovich, V., Tesler, E.,&Shany. M. (2016). Self-regulation and reading comprehension: self-perceptions, self-evaluations and effective strategies for intervention. Submitted for publication in Meltzer, L. (Ed.). (2016). Executive function in education: From theory to practice 2nd Edition. Guilford Press. 

Grants: 

A PhD research grant by Haifa University graduate studies authority. 

veredmarkovich@gmail.com

I hold a BA with honors in Psychology from Bar-Ilan University and an MA in Learning Disability Evaluation and Remediation from the University of Haifa. I work as a lecturer in in-service training of regular and special education teachers. In addition, I work in several learning disability evaluation and tutoring centers with academic students and primary school children. In the past few years I have also worked as a coordinator in a reading empowerment project in schools, under the auspices of the Edmond J. Safra Center in Haifa University.

Thesis title:

Modality effect (spoken vs. written) on the ability to learn new words: A comparison of Ethiopian children coming from a primarily oral literacy culture with less exposure to written language vs. children with a background of higher exposure to written language.

Doctorate title:

Reciprocal change in the relationships between teachers and their students with reading difficulties during an intervention program.

Status: At the end of the first research phase, obtaining approval for the proposed research.

Publications:

Geva, E., Katzir, T., Galili, K., Shany, M., & Biemiller, A. (in press). Learning novel words by ear or by eye? An advantage for lexical inferencing in listening versus reading narratives in fourth grade. Journal of Educational Psychology. 

Breznitz, Z., Shany, M., & Galili, K. (2012). Teacher training and intervention programs: Scientific results. In Zvia Breznitz’s report to the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation. 20 pages. 

Breznitz, Z., Shany, M., & Galili, K. (2013). Teacher training and intervention programs: Scientific results. In Zvia Breznitz's report to the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation. 

Participation in conferences and seminars:

Shany, M., Galili, K., & Blicher, S. (2015, May). The Edmond J. Safra-Haifa Model: Empowerment and training for learning disabilities in the Israeli education system. Poster presented at Cognitive and Neurocognitive Aspects of Learning: Abilities and Disabilities, International Conference In Memory of Prof. Zvia Breznitz (May, 2015). 

Reading fluency: Assessment and intervention. Lecture on behalf of the University of Haifa as part of a reading comprehension course for national language instructors in the special education system, at the Ministry of Education in Tel Aviv (April 2016). 

Reciprocal change in the relationships between teachers and their students with reading difficulties during an intervention program. Poster presented at the 2nd Doctoral Students Conference at the Faculty of Education (March 2015). 

Reading Acceleration Program, the Edmond J. Safra Model. Two lectures on behalf of the University of Haifa as part of a course for national language instructors in the special education system, at the Ministry of Education in Tel Aviv (April 2014). 

Theoretical and practical principles for vocabulary development in school. Lecture at a seminar in the Edmond J. Safra Center, Brain Research of Learning Disabilities (December 2011). 

Modality effect (spoken vs. written) on the ability to learn new words: A comparison of Ethiopian children coming from a primarily oral literacy culture with less exposure to written language vs. children with a background of higher exposure to written language. Paper presented at the annual Israeli Speech Therapists Conference, Tel Aviv, Israel (February 2011). 

The influence of mode of display on the ability to learn new words: Comparison between Ethiopian children who come from a primarily oral literacy culture with less exposure to written language vs. their peers who come from a background of written culture. Lecture delivered as part of the Literacy and Language Conference (March 2010).

I have a B.A. in Behavioral Science and M.A. in Learning Disabilities. In my thesis I focused on calibration of self-reports of anxiety and physiological measures of anxiety while reading in adults with and without reading disability. I am currently doing my Ph.D. in the Department of Learning Disabilities in Haifa University.

Presentations:

Meer, Y.,Breznitz, Z., &Katzir, T. (May, 2015).Calibration of Self-Reports of Anxiety and Physiological Measures of Anxiety While Reading in Adults With and Without Reading Disability. Poster presented at The International Conference Cognitive and Neurocognitive Aspects of Learning Abilities and Disabilities, Haifa, Israel.

Sela, I., & Meer, Y. (May, 2015). Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Visual and Auditory Integration Deficit among Developmental Reading Disability Readers. Poster presented at The International Conference Cognitive and Neurocognitive Aspects of Learning Abilities and Disabilities, Haifa, Israel.

Meer, Y.,Breznitz, Z., &Katzir, T. (July, 2015). Calibration of Self-Reports of Anxiety and Physiological Measures of Anxiety While Reading in Adults With and Without Reading Disability. Paper presented at the 36th Annual Conference of the Stress and Anxiety Research Society (STAR), Tel Aviv, Israel.

Meer, Y.,Breznitz, Z., &Katzir, T. (July, 2015). Calibration of Self-Reports of Anxiety and Physiological Measures of Anxiety While Reading in Adults With and Without Reading Disability. Paper presented at The 9th Conference of The Israeli Association for Literacy and Language, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Meer, Y.,Breznitz, Z., &Katzir, T. (July, 2015). Calibration of Reading Related Anxiety in Adults with and without Dyslexia. Paper presented at IACEP XV BiennalInernational Conference, Athens, Greece.

Meer, Y., & Katzir, T. (November, 2020). Taking the time: The effect of presentation mode on students’ performance time, time estimation and self-regulation. International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI), Seville, Spain

 Meer, Y., & Katzir, T. (Accepted talk, June, 2021). Taking the time: The effect of presentation mode on students’ performance time, time estimation and self-regulation. The 6th Conference of Learning Science, Bar- Ilan University, Israel.

Publications:

Meer, Y., Breznitz, Z., & Katzir, T. (2016). Calibration of Self-Reports of Anxiety and Physiological Measures of Anxiety While Reading in Adults with and Without Reading Disability. Dyslexia.

Lipka, O., Forkosh Baruch, A., & Meer, Y. (2019). Academic support model for post-secondary school students with learning disabilities: student and instructor perceptions.  Journal of Inclusive Education.

Meer, Y., & Katzir, T. (in preparation). Taking the time: The effect of presentation mode on students’ performance time, time estimation and self-regulation

yaelmeer@gmail.com