About me
Laura Beltchenko has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, teacher and coordinator of gifted programs, and an associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction in a suburban K-12 school district. She is currently the Chair of the Illinois State Board of Education Advisory Council on Gifted and Talented Education. She received the Bonnie Park Leadership Achievement Award from the Illinois Association for Gifted Children and was recognized by the National Association for Gifted Children with the Administrator of the Year Award. She received the Lake County, Illinois, Principals Association Innovative Educator of the Year and The NSLA Library System Library Advocate of the Year Award. She served on the local board of education for 24 years. Laura was an active participant in the ISBE revision of the Illinois
Social Science Standards and continues as an educator reviewer for the Illinois Assessment of Readiness grades 3-8. She is the Professional Learning and Development Chairperson for the Illinois Reading Council and has been a columnist for the Illinois Reading Council Journal. Most recently, she was a member of the drafting team of educators for the Illinois Comprehensive Literacy Plan. She is an active member of the Reading Leadership Institute at National Louis University, a group of literacy researchers and practitioners, as well as a member of the Center for Teaching through Children’s Books that studies children’s literature.
