June 26, 2016

To Whom It May Concern:

I have known Ms. Smith-Dean for five years in my role as the Deputy Executive
Director of Literacy for the Detroit Public Schools. During the years, I have visited
Ms. Smith-Dean several times at her school and observed her in her roles as a
literacy instructional specialist and Success for All (SFA) Reading Edge Facilitator.
Both of these roles require Ms. Smith-Dean to work directly with the schools
administration and teachers.
She has assisted the principal by providing instructional support to her colleagues.
She models lessons, assists with ensuring that teachers implement the reading
program with fidelity, and also assists by analyzing data and sharing the results
with her colleagues to shape instructional decisions.
At the district level, Ms. Smith-Dean has presented to approximately seventy of the
building-level English/language arts instructional specialists that attend my monthly
ELA Instructional Specialists meetings. As recent as February 2016, Ms. SmithDean did an excellent, half-day, presentation on Academic Vocabulary to the
instructional specialists. Her presentation was engaging, creative, and extremely
informative.
I have also seen Ms. Smith-Dean interact at a national conference. At the Success
for All (SFA) Conference, I sat in sessions with Ms. Smith-Dean. Success for All is a
whole-school reform model that has been adopted by fourteen of the schools in the
Detroit Public School District. During the sessions, I observed how Ms. Smith-Dean
participated, focused on the information being delivered and offered insightful
comments throughout the sessions. It was at that conference that I asked Ms.
Smith-Dean to present on the topic of Academic Vocabulary to her colleagues upon
our return. Her willingness to present and the creativity that was evident during her
presentation was very impressive.
Ms. Smith-Dean also helped her fellow SFA colleagues at other schools by sharing
information with them at meetings designed specifically for SFA schools. This year,
the district eliminated the positon of SFA Director. Ms. Smith-Dean willingly stepped
in and supported her colleagues, in addition, to carrying out her own
responsibilities.
For these reasons, I recommend without reservation, Ms. Smith-Dean to be admitted
to the Education Specialist in Leadership Program at your university.
If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me at
deborah.winston02@detroitk12.org or by phone at 313.873.4992.

Sincerely,

Deborah L. Winston, Ph.D.