Randolph–Macon College. Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RANDOLPH_MACON_COLLEGE_BUILDINGS.jpg)
University of Richmond. Photo: Talbot0893, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robins_School_of_Business,_University_of_Richmond.jpg)
University of Virginia
National Louis University. Photo: TonyTheTiger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20080703_Peoples_Gas_Building.JPG)
Appalachian State University. Photo: DavidSSabb, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ASU_from_Howard%27s_Knob.jpg)
Randolph–Macon College. Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RANDOLPH_MACON_COLLEGE_BUILDINGS.jpg)
University of Richmond. Photo: Talbot0893, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robins_School_of_Business,_University_of_Richmond.jpg)
University of Virginia
National Louis University. Photo: TonyTheTiger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20080703_Peoples_Gas_Building.JPG)
Appalachian State University. Photo: DavidSSabb, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ASU_from_Howard%27s_Knob.jpg)
(A teacher resource on diagnosing and remediating reading ...)
A teacher resource on diagnosing and remediating reading difficulties through assessment, case studies, individualized instruction, and applications for one-to-one, small-group, and whole-class teaching.
https://www.guilford.com/books/Diagnosis-and-Correction-of-Reading-Problems/Darrell-Morris/9781462512256
2008
(A revised manual presenting the Howard Street model, asse...)
A revised manual presenting the Howard Street model, assessment guidance, tutoring procedures, and case studies for primary-grade readers at risk.
https://www.guilford.com/books/The-Howard-Street-Tutoring-Manual/Darrell-Morris/9781593851248
2005
R. Darrell
Robert Darrell Morris was born on November 25, 1947, in Durham, North Carolina, United States, to Robert James and Lily B. O'Kelly Morris. His professional life developed during a period when American schools were expanding special education, reading assessment, and early intervention for children who struggled to acquire literacy.
Morris studied psychology at Randolph-Macon College, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1972. Randolph-Macon, founded in 1830, is a liberal-arts college in Virginia with a longstanding emphasis on undergraduate education.
He received a master's degree in psychology from the University of Richmond in 1976. The University of Richmond is a private Virginia university whose academic traditions combine liberal-arts education with professional study. He completed a Doctor of Education in Reading Education at the University of Virginia in 1980. The University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, developed a major tradition of teacher education and reading research, including clinical approaches to literacy instruction that influenced later intervention work in the field.
Morris began his professional career as a special education teacher in the Culpeper County school system in Virginia from 1974 to 1976. He then entered higher education, serving as an associate professor of education at National-Louis University in Evanston, Illinois, from 1979 to 1989. National-Louis University grew from institutions devoted to teacher preparation and maintained a strong professional orientation toward education and applied learning.
While working in the Chicago area, Morris directed the Howard Street Tutoring Program from 1979 to 1985 and directed the reading clinic at National-Louis University from 1981 to 1987. The Howard Street program used supervised adult and college volunteers to provide one-to-one tutoring for struggling second- and third-grade readers. Research on the program reported stronger gains for tutored children in word recognition and passage reading than for comparable nontutored students.
Morris joined Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, in 1989 as a professor of education and director of its Reading Clinic. Appalachian State, established as a teacher-training school in 1899, became a comprehensive public university while retaining a significant tradition in educator preparation. At Appalachian State, Morris directed reading education programs, researched beginning reading and spelling, and helped school districts establish intervention programs.
He created and consulted on the First Steps Reading Intervention Program, later associated with Early Steps, beginning in the late 1980s. These programs used individualized reading instruction, guided reading, word study, fluency work, and systematic assessment for children at risk of reading failure. His scholarship also addressed reading diagnosis, spelling development, instructional level, fluency, and the preparation of teachers who work with struggling readers.
Morris developed the Howard Street Tutoring Program, an after-school one-to-one intervention model that trained and supervised adult volunteers to assist struggling second- and third-grade readers. Evaluations of the program reported improved word recognition and passage-reading performance among participating children.
He developed and helped disseminate Early Steps and related reading-intervention models for children at risk of reading failure. The programs combined individualized instruction, guided reading, word study, fluency practice, and systematic assessment.
Morris contributed research on beginning reading, spelling development, reading fluency, diagnostic assessment, and teacher preparation through books, journal articles, program reports, and professional training.
(A teacher resource on diagnosing and remediating reading ...)
2008(A historical report describing the origin and ten-year de...)
1993(A study of a replication of the Howard Street tutoring mo...)
2005(An article arguing for coordinated use of carefully level...)
2015(A co-authored study evaluating an after-school volunteer ...)
1990(A revised manual presenting the Howard Street model, asse...)
2005(A manual explaining how to establish, supervise, and eval...)
1990(An early manual describing the Howard Street approach to ...)
1990(A book-length account of the Howard Street tutoring model...)
1990Morris's professional work emphasizes the importance of careful assessment, individualized instruction, and sustained support for children who struggle with reading. His intervention models combine guided reading with word study, fluency practice, and close supervision of tutors or teachers, reflecting a view that effective literacy instruction should respond to a learner's developing strengths and needs.
Morris has been associated with the National Reading Conference, the International Reading Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the Orton Dyslexia Society. These organizations supported research, professional exchange, teacher development, and public understanding of reading disabilities and literacy instruction.
Morris married Verda Wilson Ingle on July 20, 1978. They have two children, Joseph and Katherine.
