Who We Are

A Team of Experts Who Use Oral Language to Build the Brain for Literacy

We are driven by a dedication and passion to help all students master literacy skills to achieve academic and career success. Learning By Design is a privately owned, K–12 publishing and professional development company founded by Dr. Jan Wasowicz, an internationally recognized language-learning expert and the inventor of the Earobics® Step 1 & Step 2 software products.

About Dr. Jan Wasowicz

Founder, President, & CEO Dr. Jan Wasowicz has over 40 years of experience working with struggling readers and writers, including children with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other language-based learning disabilities. She is frequently invited to speak on best practices for literacy assessment and instruction and has conducted countless professional development workshops. Dr. Wasowicz has held faculty positions at prestigious universities including Northwestern University and Elmhurst College. ​Dr. Wasowicz is a certified speech-language pathologist and a board-certified specialist in child language licensed to practice in the states of Illinois and Florida and is a licensed professional educator with elementary and secondary endorsements from the State Teacher Certification Board of Illinois. 

SPELL-Links Authors

Dr. Wasowicz is joined by a team of leading scientists and researchers from major universities. Together these high-caliber professionals provide the materials, services, and support needed to help improve your students’ outcomes in reading, writing, and spelling. We specialize in customized learning solutions to fit each student’s precise learning needs, hands-on professional development workshops tailored to fit your needs, and in-depth product training that ensures integrity of implementation.

Dr. Kenn Apel

Dr. Julie Materson

Dr. Jan Wasowicz

Dr. Anne Whitney

4 Leading Speech, Language, Literacy, and Learning Experts Behind SPELL-Links and You!

  • 95 years of research and peer-reviewed publications 
  • 130 combined years of teaching courses in higher education
  • 120 combined years of providing assessments and interventions for struggling learners
  • 160 combined years of providing professional development courses for educators
  • 40 combined years as editors and associate editors for multiple peer-reviewed research journals
  • 4 distinguished leaders recognized and awarded for their research, professional accreditation committee work, and innovative product development with NIH- and IES-sponsored grants; bestowed honors from state, national, and international organizations including ASHA, IDA, and ILA; and numerous US and international patents for ground-breaking assessments and interventions
  • 8 combined advanced degrees 
  • 3 lifetime professors and clinical faculty 
  • 4 nationally certified and state-licensed professionals
  • 2 ASHA Board Certified Specialists in Child Language
  • 4 scientists who put the speech and the language and the science and the learning into SPELL-Links

Grounded & Research Based

Learning By Design, Inc. is making a difference in K–12 education with a speech-to-print, multi-linguistic, and meta-cognitive approach to written language that is solidly grounded in clinical and neurobiological research.

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Work with us!

Together, we can make a difference in K-12 education!

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