Literacy Instruction in the College of Education | �˻�ֱ�� College of Education

�˻�ֱ�� Our Programs Teach Literacy

At the University of �˻�ֱ�� College of Education, students in educator preparation programs study how learners adapt to different environments using interdisciplinary methods from developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, multiliteracy and direct educational interventions. They work with exceptional learners experiencing reading and writing difficulties in public schools and, through tutoring, practice the skills they are learning while also providing a free critical service to the community. Graduates of our program have a comprehensive understanding of literacy and language development and the ability to differentiate instruction based on student needs while also recognizing the importance of creating a multicultural and multimodal classroom environment. They are well-versed in current research on the science of learning and the science of reading and have the knowledge to teach students across diverse backgrounds and abilities effectively. Graduates of our programs have the skills to use evidence-based practices and make a range of educational decisions that are supported by the assessment of student literacy across multiple measures.

Our candidates engage in equity-informed instruction when learning about how to teach literacy (i.e., reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, etc.). For example, our elementary teacher education curriculum and practicum experiences (Grades 1-6) support teacher candidates in working with students from diverse backgrounds through asset-based instructional practices (e.g., using multicultural literature and building on students' cultural knowledge). Our secondary education graduate program (Grades 7-12) offers a three-credit, three-course series on Studying Student Learning in Diverse Settings, which includes learner development, learner dialects, multilingual learner pedagogies, exceptional learner instruction and assessment, and facilitating learning differences. Candidates at the secondary level also complete coursework in digital literacy, content area reading, and disciplinary literacy.

Our programs model how language and communication disorders affect reading and writing development, how language and communication disorders interact with culture, language diversity, and socioeconomic differences in home and school contexts, and recognize that patterns of development vary for children with and without cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical disabilities. Our coursework requires students to examine federal and state regulations supporting multilingual learners as well as Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) as it relates to the unique literacy needs of learners experiencing language-based challenges.

Group of Students working with a PhD student

Students working with a Reading Instructor

Candidates also apply research-informed practices for teaching multilingual learners, including knowing their PK-12 students (e.g., their academic backgrounds, personal lives, home language and literacies, interests, family and community assets); building a positive learning environment; planning and enacting content and language instruction through scaffolding, differentiation, supporting students' language and literacy development, and more. Students learn how to support cognitive and motivational processes of literacy and multimodal learning within and across content areas.

The faculty who teach literacy courses introduce students to a wide range of literacy curricula and strategies in an effort to respond to the needs of our PK-12 communities and local districts. Faculty are well-prepared to facilitate science-based reading instruction, and in addition to their prior knowledge are applying what they learned from the MSDE-SUNY Science of Reading microcredential. Our partners consistently offer positive feedback on the extent to which our graduates are prepared to teach literacy. An example of our collective work includes the leadership of the , a signature program organized across five colleges at �˻�ֱ��, and Morgan State University. MILE has led and supported many statewide policies and initiatives.

Literacy Courses and Faculty Expertise


Program	Reading Courses	Title	Credits
Early Childhood/ Early Childhood Special Education		Reading in the Early Childhood Classroom	3
		Reading in Early Childhood Classroom: Instruction and Materials Part II	3
		Reading Diagnosis and Assessment	3
		Language Development and Reading Acquisition	3
Special Education		Language and Literacy Acquisition in Children with Disabilities	3
		Reading and Writing Instruction in Special Education I	3
		Reading and Writing Instruction in Special Education II	3
Elementary		Digital Learning Tools and Communities	1
		Introduction to Children’s Literacy and Critical Literacy	3
		Assessing Language and Literacy Development in Elementary Classrooms	3
		Promoting Skilled and Motivated Readers in Diverse Elementary Classrooms (Part 1)	3
		Promoting Skilled and Motivated Readers in Diverse Elementary Classrooms (Part 2)	3
		Culturally Responsive Language and Literacy Instruction in Diverse Elementary Classrooms	3
Middle School/ Mathematics & Science		Cognition and Motivation in Content Area Literacy for Middle-School Students	3
Middle School/ Mathematics & Science		Reading in the Secondary School	3
Secondary/ PK-12		Cognitive and Motivational Literacy Content	3
Secondary/ PK-12		Digital Learning Tools and Communities	1
TESOL		Foundations of Literacy and Biliteracy Development	3
		Linguistics in Education	3
		Student Assessment in the Second Language Classroom	3
		Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners	3
		Multiliteracies: Theory and Practice	3
		Second Language Acquisition	3
		Methods for Teaching Multilingual Learners	3
		English Grammar for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages	3

Ebony Terrell Shockley, Associate Dean for Educator Preparation and Undergraduate Studies
Donald Bolger, Associate Professor of Human Development
Ayanna Baccus, Associate Clinical Professor
Shannon Kane, Assistant Clinical Professor
Jennifer D. Turner, Associate Professor
Rachel Romeo, Assistant Professor
Margaret Peterson, Associate Clinical Professor
Katryna Andrusik, Assistant Clinical Professor
Jade Wexler, Professor
Loren Jones, Associate Clinical Professor
Ana Taboada Barber, Professor
Reka Barton, Assistant Professor
Kerry Alexander, Assistant Professor

A selection of faculty publications also serve as recommended readings for our students:

Alexander, K. H., Taylor, V., & Trautman, K. (2024). Research: “it feels like a safe place”: A (re)invitation to the writer’s notebook as humanizing pedagogy in preservice literacy teacher education. English Education, 56(3), 170–196.
Baccus, A. A. (2004). Urban fourth and fifth grade teachers' reading attitudes and efficacy beliefs: Relationships to reading instruction and to students' reading attitudes and efficacy beliefs. University of �˻�ֱ��, College Park.
Barton, R. C., Blevins, D., & Cappello, M. (2022). The elevation of Black Girls’ hair: An analysis of visual representations in children’s picturebooks. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 0(0).
Cappello, M., & Barton, R. (2022). "Draw a Picture of Something You Learned": A Critical Multimodal Analysis of Multilingual Students' Classroom Drawings. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 18(1), n1.
Cappello, M., Wiseman, A. M., & Turner, J. D. (2019). Framing equitable classroom practices: Potentials of critical multimodal literacy research. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 68(1), 205-225.
de Oliveira, L. C., & Jones, L. (2023). Teaching young multilingual learners: Key issues and new insights. Cambridge University Press [part of the Elements series].
de Oliveira, L. C., Jones, L., & Arana, J. (2018). Scaffolding instruction for ELLs in first grade: The power of joint construction. In Judy Sharkey (Ed.), Putting research into practice, volume 1: Elementary settings (pp. 23-37). Alexandria, Virginia: TESOL Press.
de Oliveira, L. C., Jones, L., & Smith, S. L. (2020) Scaffolding for meaningful interactions in a first-grade classroom through the teaching/learning cycle. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism,
DeMink-Carthew, J., Grove, R., & Peterson, M., (2017), The Influence of the core practices movement on the teaching and perspectives of novice teacher educators. Studying Teacher Education. 13(1), 87-104.
Dunham, H., & Alexander, K. (2022). Applying an Intersectional Framework to the Literacy Worlds of Preservice Teachers. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 18(2).
Edwards, P. A., McMillon, G. T., & Turner, J. D. (2015). Change is gonna come: Transforming literacy education for African American students. Teachers College Press.
Gibson, S. & Terrell Shockley, E. (2018). Walking the tightrope between advocacy and knowledge: An appeal from teacher educators to SLPs regarding AAE. Perspectives of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 3(1), 147-158.
Jones, L., Smith, S. L., & de Oliveira, L. C. (2021). Fostering Diverse Learners’ Comprehension and Critical Thinking Through Epitext. From Text to Epitext: Expanding Students' Comprehension, Engagement, and Media Literacy, 91.
Kane, S., & Hiltabidel, J. (2023). Shifting Practices to Empower Teachers and Students: Putting the “Critical” in Language Awareness. In S.L. Finley, P. Correll, C. Pearman & S. Huffman (Eds.), Cultivating Critical Discourse in the Classroom (pp. 20-40). IGI.
Landi, N., Perfetti, C. A., Bolger, D. J., Dunlap, S., Foorman, B. R. (2006). The role of discourse context in developing word form representations: A paradoxical relationship between reading and learning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 94(2): 114-133.
Maher, Z., Mazzei, C., Terrell Shockley, E., Tonesavahn, T., & Edwards, J. (2024). Multiple approaches to "Appropriateness": A mixed-methods study of elementary teachers' dispositions toward African American Language as they teach a Dialect-Shifting Curriculum. Reading Research Quarterly, 59(3), 468-486.
Maher, Z., Blomquist, C., Byrd, A., Oppenheimer, K., Terrell Shockley, E., Thonesavanh, T., &
Edwards, J. (2024). Does a dialect-shifting curriculum help early readers who speak African American English? Results from a randomized controlled study. Reading and Writing, 1-21.
Morris, S., Peterson, M., (2021) Co-Constructing rubrics: A social justice method for teaching writing. Journal of Teaching Writing, 35 (2). 49-68.
Ries, E., Dunham, H., Corriston, K., Alexander, K., Taylor, V., & Wetzel, M. M. (2023). Look to the side: Peer partnerships in preservice literacy teacher education. Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 72(1), 258–277.
Romeo, R. R., Uchida, L., & Christodoulou, J. A. (2022). Socioeconomic status and reading outcomes: Neurobiological and behavioral correlates. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2022, 57–70.
Sciurba, K., Hernandez, S. J., & Barton, R. C. (2020). Humanizing the journey across the Mexico–U.S. border: Multimodal analysis of children’s picture books and the restorying of latinx (im)migration. Children’s Literature in Education, 52(3), 411–429.
Shelton, A., Swanson, E., Wexler, J., Payne, S. B., & Hogan, E. (2023). An exploration of middle school literacy coaching: A multi-survey study of teachers and instructional coaches. Teacher Education and Special Education.
Shelton, A., Wexler, J., Kurz, L., Swanson. E. (2021). Incorporating evidence-based literacy practices into middle school content areas. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 53(4), 270–278.
Speece, D. L., Ritchey, K. D., Silverman, R., Schatschneider, C., Walker, C. Y., & Andrusik, K. N. (2010). Identifying children in middle childhood who are at risk for reading problems. School Psychology Review, 39(2), 258-276.
Stark, K., Wexler, J., Shelton, A., Johnston, T.J. & *Omohundro, Karen (2023). Explicit and evidence-based literacy instruction in middle school: An observation study. Reading and Writing.
Taboada Barber, A., Buehl, M. M., Kidd, J. K., Sturtevant, E. G., Richey Nuland, L., & Beck, J. (2014). Reading engagement in Social Studies: Exploring the role of a social studies literacy intervention on reading comprehension, reading self-efficacy, and engagement in middle school students with different language backgrounds. Reading Psychology, 36(1), 31–85.
Terrell Shockley, E. & McDaniel, K. (2020). Co-teaching twice exceptional students: Perspectives from ESOL/Special education teacher education. In M. Dove and A. Honigsfeld (Eds.), Co-teaching for English learners, evidenced-based practices, and research-informed outcomes (127-154). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Terrell Shockley, E. (2021). Expanding the narrative of the achievement gap in education research: Black English Learners as a counter-example. Journal of Negro Education, 90(1), 7-25.
Terrell Shockley, E., & Ivy, K., & Peters, M. (2020). Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Connectivism: Interdisciplinary literacy in linguistically diverse STEM classrooms at the middle grades. In S. Stacki, M. Caskey, & S. Mertens (Eds.), Curriculum, instruction, and assessment: Intersecting new needs and new approaches (126-150). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Turner, J. D. (2007). Beyond cultural awareness: Prospective teachers' visions of culturally responsive literacy teaching. Action in Teacher Education, 29(3), 12-24.
Turner, J. D. (2019). Improving Black Students' College and Career Readiness through Literacy Instruction: A Freirean-Inspired Approach for K–8 Classrooms. Journal of Negro Education, 88(4), 443-453.
Turner, J. D., & Kim, Y. (2005). Learning about Building Literacy Communities in Multicultural and Multilingual Classrooms from Effective Elementary Teachers. Literacy Teaching and Learning, 10(1), 21-42.
Turner, J. D. (2018). Invited Dialogue: Nurturing Young Children’s Literacy Development through Effective Preschools, Practices, and Policies: A Conversation with Dr. William H. Teale. Language Arts, 95(3), 176-181.
Turner, J. D., & Mitchell, C. (2019). Sustaining culture, expanding literacies: culturally relevant literacy pedagogy and gradual release of responsibility. In The gradual release of responsibility in literacy research and practice (Vol. 10, pp. 229-244). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Turner, J. D. (2017). All about that bass: Cultivating socially-just literacy teachers through multicultural literature and multimodality. In Becoming Critical Teacher Educators (pp. 175-186). Routledge.
Vaughn, S., Roberts, G., Schnakenberg, J. B., Fall, A.-M., Vaughn, M. G., & Wexler, J. (2015). Improving reading comprehension for high school students with disabilities: Effects for comprehension and school retention. Exceptional Children, 82(1), 117–131.
Wexler, J., Kearns, D.M., Lemons, C.J., *Shelton, A., Pollack, M.S., Stapleton, L.M., *Clancy, E., *Hogan, E.K., Lyon, C., (2022). Improving literacy instruction in co-taught middle school classrooms to support reading comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology. Advance online publication.
Wexler, J., Swanson, E., Vaughn, S., *Shelton, A., Bray, L., *Hogan, E.K., Kurz, L. (2022). Sustaining the use of evidence-based tier 1 literacy practices that benefit students with disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities. Advance online publication.
Wexler, J. (2021). Improving instruction in co-taught classrooms to support reading comprehension. Intervention in School and Clinic, 56(4), 195–199.
Wexler, J., Kearns, D.M., *Hogan, E.K. *Clancy, E. & *Shelton, A. (2021). Preparing to implement evidence-based literacy practices in the co-taught classroom. Intervention in School and Clinic, 56(4), 200–207.
Wexler, J., Swanson, E., & Vaughn, S., *Shelton, A., & Kurz. L. (2019). Building a sustainable school-wide adolescent literacy model in middle schools: Guidance for administrators. Middle School Journal.
Wexler, J., *Mitchell, M. A., *Clancy, E., & Silverman, R. D. (2016). An investigation of literacy practices in science classrooms. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 33(3), 258-277,

Literacy and Language: A Strategic Priority

The College of Education has identified literacy and language as one of its high impact areas in its most recent strategic plan. Current and recent funded projects led by �˻�ֱ�� faculty that support and align with our literacy efforts, course design, and instruction include:

College Innovations Supporting Literacy Initiatives

EdTerps Learning Academy - ETLA was launched in January 2023 and supports educators, school leaders, and school-based professionals throughout their careers through professional learning experiences that are accessible, flexible, and high-impact. ETLA will develop, administer, and market three types of programs: degree-bearing programs, for-credit non-degree courses, and non-credit (Open Learning) programs.
(MILE) - A recently established initiative led by Drs. Donald Bolger (University of �˻�ֱ��, College Park) and Simone Gibson (Morgan State University), focuses on harnessing the power of research to better understand the development of language and literacy skills AND develop cutting edge, culturally relevant strategies in teaching reading. MILE is harnessing research-to-practice partnerships in the fields of education, speech and language pathology, library sciences, policy, and community stakeholder outreach. These efforts are aimed at driving integrative research, both translational and basic, that is contextualized with respect to literacy with marginalized communities across race, culture, ethnicity, and language, as well as neurodiverse populations.
School Improvement Leadership Academy (SILA) - An initiative of the Center for Educational Innovation and Improvement, SILA supports principal development by providing comprehensive, evidence-based professional learning to 140 principals and assistant principals in Title I schools, Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools, and/or high need schools in Delaware, �˻�ֱ��, and New Jersey. This work aims to increase principal and assistant principal knowledge and capacity in three areas: Instructional Leadership, Equity Leadership, and Improvement Leadership. The work is funded by a grant from the US Department of Education.
The Creative Initiatives in Teacher Education (CITE) program is a teacher preparation program with the College of Education and both Montgomery County Public Schools and Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Our cohorts include teachers who are hired conditionally due to the national teacher shortage and will assist them with earning their certification in less than two years.
Launched in 2023, the �˻�ֱ�� Early EdCorp Apprenticeship Program recruits and prepares child care teachers to meet the needs of children with disabilities, children who are English language learners, and children experiencing homelessness. Through the program, candidates work toward the Preschool Child Development Associate credential, participate in paid apprenticeships at high-quality child care centers, and receive 160 hours of professional development and mentorship.
The Reading Specialist program aligns with the �˻�ֱ�� State Department of Education (MSDE) certification requirements for grades P-12 and has earned recognition by the International Literacy Association. Students completing this program receive the Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree. Graduates completing three years of classroom teaching experience are eligible for the reading specialist certification from MSDE. Recently redesigned with a focus on equity for diverse readers, the program consists of 30 credits, including a capstone summer reading clinic known as the University of �˻�ֱ�� Summer Reading Program (SRP). In the SRP, candidates provide literacy instruction to students who struggle with reading and writing while engaging in collaborative and coaching experiences with candidates from the program. The SRP is open to children in grades PK-12 who live in the local community. With a legacy of more than 30 years, the SRP has served hundreds of students from diverse backgrounds, including those who a) qualify for the National School Lunch Program, b) identify as students of color, c) and are multilingual learners.

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