Mebane Early Literacy Summit
Join our free annual literacy summit – in person!
What: Mebane Early Literacy Summit – Elevating Evidence-Based Practices in Literacy
When: February 28, 2026, from 9:00-4:00 (registration and breakfast opens at 8:00)
Who: PreK/elementary/secondary educators, school/district administrators, education leaders, community members, funders, and university faculty/students
Where: Popp Martin Student Union at UNC Charlotte
Keynote Speaker – Dr. Holly Lane
Director of the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI)
Dr. Holly Lane is the founding Director of the University of Florida Literacy Institute, more commonly known as UFLI. She is also the Irving and Rose Fien professor of education. Her research focuses on effective reading instruction and intervention and helping teachers develop the knowledge and skills they need to teach reading effectively, especially using evidence-based practices to promote the development of foundational reading skills. Lane has directed many grants to support reading research, as well as the development of teachers and researchers. She is also the author of numerous publications related to literacy, including UFLI Foundations: An Explicit and Systematic Phonics Program.
What’s in Store for the Day: Our full day of free literacy professional development includes:
- Expert literacy sessions led by the North Carolina Spangler and Goodnight Distinguished Professors of Early Child Literacy
- Presentations on literacy topics aligned to the science of reading:
- phonemic awareness/phonics/advanced phonics
- fluency
- vocabulary/morphology
- reading comprehension
- language comprehension/listening comprehension
- writing
- culture/climate/curriculum/community
- A secondary literacy strand presented by the Center for Adolescent Literacy
- Poster reception with refreshments for networking
- Plenary session for community organizations supporting literacy
- Engaging keynote speaker
- Free parking, breakfast, lunch, and coffee!
- CEUs available for attendees
- Day 2 of the Back to Back Literacy Summits with the Southwest Regional Education School Alliance (SW RESA) for educators in SW schools.
Space is limited to the first 400 registrants. We hope you can join us this year!