C. C. Bates

C. C. Bates (Celeste C. Bates) is a professor of literacy education and associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Education at Clemson University, where she also directs the Clemson University Early Literacy Center for South Carolina. Her research focuses on the use of digital tools to enhance professional development for reading interventionists and K–2 classroom teachers, particularly in the teaching of children who experience difficulty learning to read and write. Bates holds a PhD in Language and Literacy with a concentration in Early Literacy from Georgia State University and began her career as a primary grades teacher, interventionist, and literacy coach in South Carolina and Georgia.

Bates is coauthor of The Next Step Forward in Running Records: Getting to the Heart of Effective Instruction Through Deeper Qualitative Analysis, written with Jan Richardson and Maryann McBride, which guides teachers in taking, scoring, and deeply analyzing running records to inform targeted literacy instruction. In addition to her authorship, she has led the Early Literacy Center since 2009, trained Reading Recovery teacher leaders, and served as principal investigator on significant grants supporting early literacy intervention and teacher professional development.