About HEC - Projects & People

The Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of Texas at Austin (VGC) seeks to advance reading instruction through research and professional development. The Texas Reading First Higher Education Collaborative is a project to provide ongoing professional learning opportunities to teacher educators.

Greg Roberts, is the Director of the Vaughn Gross Center.

Texas Reading First Higher Education Collaborative (Texas HEC)

Teacher Education and Education Administration faculty from universities, community colleges and alternative teacher certification programs across Texas participate in this statewide collaborative funded through the Texas Reading First Initiative. Participants attend collaborative development seminars, which provide a forum for faculty to examine materials and discuss ways to incorporate scientifically based reading research (SBRR) into their coursework. Project personnel and consultants provide materials, technical assistance, site visits, and access to HEC Online. Through Texas HEC, faculty are afforded the opportunity to network with other members of the collaborative and to work with colleagues on their campuses to align the content of their courses with effective research-based reading instruction.

Texas HEC Staff

Marty Hougen, Ph.D., is the Project Manager for Texas HEC. Hougen has been involved in teaching struggling readers for more than 30 years as a public school teacher, university instructor, researcher, grant writer, and school administrator. Teaching students with dyslexia is her particular area of interest. Hougen presents at numerous state and national conferences in the area of struggling readers and teacher education. She has been published in several refereed journals.
Texas HEC participants should contact Marty to arrange site visits or if they have general questions about the collaborative.

Heather Haynes, M.A., is the Project Coordinator for Texas HEC. Heather has been involved with Texas Reading First since its inception in the roles of teacher, Local Campus Reading Coach, Reading Technical Assistance Specialist for UT System Administration and now with the Texas HEC. Heather's specific areas of interest include using data to support classroom instruction, vocabulary, assessment, scientifically based reading instruction (SBRI), response to intervention (RtI), professional development, leadership and the 3-Tier reading model research and implementation.
Heather is available to present to your classes. Texas HEC participants should contact Heather to arrange presentations and classroom observations.

Eric Bramblett has provided administrative support for Texas HEC since its inception in 2000. Contact Bramblett with questions about travel arrangements or reimbursements.

Jin Ok is a Graduate Research Assistant for Texas HEC.