Faculty & Staff - LRC : College of Education, University of Arizona

Department Head:
Norma E. Gonzalez

Language, Reading & Culture
The University of Arizona College of Education
P.O. Box 210069
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85721-0069
Phone: 520-621-1311
Fax: 520-621-1853
E-mail

Language, Reading & Culture

Patricia L. Anders - Professor

Patricia Anders Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Research: Adolescent literacy, teacher education, content area literacy.

Teaching: Adult literacy, adolescent literacy, reading comprehension, content area literacy, and leadership in adolescent literacy programs.

J. David Betts - Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research: Arts integration, Community computing, Multimedia arts education

Teaching: Literacy and technology, Literacy and the arts

Thomas G. Bever - Affiliate Professor

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research:

Teaching:

Julio Cammarota - Affiliate Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

Research: Julio Cammarota is the co-director of a youth participatory action research program, the Social Justice Education Project (SJEP). The SJEP teaches high school students in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) how to conduct research on issues and problems related to inequities experienced in their schools and communities.

Teaching: Ethnography of Latino Youth, Latinos and Education, Urban Education, Anthropology of Education, Multicultural Education, Educational Ethnography, Cultural Studies, Race, Class, and Gender Studies, Ethnography of Work, Youth in Society, Social Theory, Globalization, Political Economy.

Jesus Celaya - Adjunct Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research: Jesús Celaya is the principal of Drachman (K-6) Montessori Magnet School in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). He incorporates teacher research into his administrative work, and he facilitates teacher research on his campus among his Montessori teachers. Jesús is also on TUSD’s Intercultural Proficiency Professional Development Team, and he coordinates learning experiences for educators related to critical pedagogy, multicultural education, critical race theory, and social justice that are based on his research and educational experiences.

Teaching: Structured English Immersion and Sheltered Instruction, Bilingual Education Teacher Preparation, Intercultural Proficiency and Multicultural Education, Critical Pedagogy, and Multicultural Children’s Literature.

Marta Civil - Affiliate Professor

Thomas G. Bever Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research: My research in mathematics education spreads over two areas: teacher education and equity in mathematics education. In particular my focus is on a socio-cultural approach to the mathematics education of ethnic and language minority students (school age and adults).
My overall research interest in teacher education is in the area of elementary teachers' (preservice and practicing) understanding of and beliefs about mathematics, its teaching and its learning.

Teaching: I have taught precalculus, mathematics courses for business majors, and mathematics courses for elementary and secondary education majors, and for practicing teachers. My most frequent teaching assignment is mathematics teacher education courses. I have developed and taught several courses for practicing elementary and middle school teachers (algebra, geometry, and technology in mathematics teaching and learning). I also teach graduate level courses on research in mathematics education. I am particularly interested in participatory approaches to the teaching of mathematics. My teaching approach involves small group discussions, hands on activities, and use of technology.

Mary Carol Combs - Associate Lecturer

Ph.D., University of Arizona Research: Language and education policy, Indigenous language revitalization, Education and Immigration, Bilingual education law and policy

Teaching: Preparation of English language learners, bilingual education, Structured English Immersion, Indigenous language and identity in film

Dioniso de la Vina - Adjunct Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research:

Teaching:

Lisa Falk - Affiliate Teaching Associate

MAT Museum Education, The George Washington University

Research: Use of museums by families; how museum programs can change attitudes and assumptions of at-risk populations about museums, libraries and Native Americans; oral history; digital media for museum interpretation; place-based education; folklife/cultural traditions.

Teaching: museum education, object-based learning, place-based heritage education, community cultural documentaries.

Arminda Fuentevilla - Clinical Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research:

Teaching:

Perry Gilmore - Associate Professor

Ph.D., Univeristy of Pennsylvania

Research: Language and identity Language and culture revitalization, Literacy in sociocultural context

Teaching: Language, culture and communication; Discourse studies; The Anthropology of Literacy; Applied linguistics; Language acquisition

Kenneth S. Goodman - Professor Emeritus

Ed.D., University of California at Los Angeles

Research: Kenneth Goodman is a practical theorist, researcher and teacher educator whose work has changed our understanding of literacy processes, how they are learned and how best to teach them.

Teaching: His sociotransactional theory of the reading process is the most widely cited in the world. This research based theory demonstrates that reading is a unitary process in which readers actively construct meaning, that is they make sense of print. Goodman's theory is a macro view which is solidly built on linguistic, psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic concepts. It is a practical theory because teachers who come to understand this view of reading and the related view of writing can understand what it is that learners are doing as they develop literacy.

Yetta M. Goodman - Regents' Professor Emerita

Ed.D., Wayne State University, 1967

Research: Early literacy, miscue analysis and the reading and writing processes, she has popularized the term kidwatching encouraging teachers to be professional observers of the language and learning development of their students.

Teaching: Continues to work with doctoral students interested in miscue analysis.

Norma Gonzalez - Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research: Anthropology and education, applied anthropology, linguistic anthropology, language socialization, household ethnography, language processes in communities, community/school linkages, Mexican-origin populations, borderlands, critical theory, women’s narratives.

Teaching: Language and Culture, Qualitative Methods, Anthropology and Education, Multiucultural Education, Girls' and Womens Education in Global Perspective, Language and Community, Research Methods, Bilingual Education.

Marge Knox - Adjunct Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research: Miscue Analysis, Music and Literacy, EMMA (Eye Movement and Miscue Analysis)

Teaching: Literacy tutoring

Herman Lucero - Adjunct Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research: Language Planning and Policy, Bilingual education law and policy, Historical analysis of the Education of Mexicans-Americans.

Teaching: Structured English Immersion teacher preparation and Bilingual education teacher preparation, Bilingual Curriculum and other Second Language Acquisition Settings.

Luis C. Moll - Professor

photo not available Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Research: Bilingual literacy learning, Classroom and community analysis, Child development

Teaching: Bilingual education, Qualitative research, Sociocultural psychology

Sheilah E. Nicholas - Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research:

Teaching:

Shari Popen, Ph.D. - Adjunct Assistant Professor

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Research:

Teaching:

Lea Prassas - Adjunct Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research:

Teaching: Essentials of Reading and Writing, Classroom Literacy Diagnosis and Instruction and Literature and Literacy for Young Children

Iliana Reyes - Assistant Professor

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

Research: Bilingual and biliteracy development, Early Childhood, Sociolinguistics of multilingual communities.

Teaching: Early literacy and language development, language socialization, Practicum on Bilingual Education, ELL, ESL and SEI, and Foundations of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education.

Eliane Rubinstein-Ávila - Associate Professor

Elaine Rubinstein-Ávila Ed.D., Harvard University

Research: Education in and out of school of nondominant adolescent students, Immigrant student education

Teaching: Literacy in multicultural schools, Qualitative research methods in education, Case studies in literacy research, Language and culture in education

Richard Ruiz - Professor

Ph.D., Stanford University

Research: Language policy development, Language minority groups, Educational foundations

Teaching: Language planning, Education of language minority children

Kathy G. Short - Professor

Ph.D., Indiana University

Research: International children's literature and intercultural understanding, chidlren's dialogue about literature, inquiry-based curriculum.

Teaching: Children's literature, reader response, literature and literacy instruction, inquiry-based curriculum, and teacher research

Linda R. Waugh - Affiliate Professor

Linda Waugh M.A. (1965) French Literature, Stanford University
Ph.D (1970) Linguistics, Indiana University

Research: Her main interests are in the function of linguistic structures (of all types), in the discourse-pragmatics of language, in written textual analysis (including journalistic and narrative texts), spoken discourse analysis (she has supervised the gathering of corpora for spoken French and American English), corpus linguistics, applied linguistics, grammatical and lexical semantics, history of linguistics, semiotics, and in the way language is integrated with other socio-cultural (semiotic) systems by which humans communicate and make sense of our world.

Teaching:

Bob Wortman - Associate Lecturer

Bob Wortman

Ph.D., University of Arizona

Research: Writing authenticity with young children

Teaching: Literacy and Children's Literature

Leisy Thornton Wyman - Assistant Professor

Ph.D., Stanford University

Research:

Teaching:

David B. Yaden, Jr. - Professor

Ph.D., University of Oklahoma

Research:

Teaching:

Ofelia Zepeda - Affiliate Professor

M.A (1981), Ph.D. (1984), University of Arizona

Research: American Indian linguistics, American Indian Bilingual Education, American Indian Language Pedagogy, American Indian Language Policy, American Indian literature.

Teaching: Introduction to Tohono O'odham, the structure of the Tohono O'odham language, lexicography for Native American Languages, survey of Native American Languages, and Native American literature.

Staff

Rebecca Ballenger - WOW Office Specialist, Senior

David Cherry - WREN Director

Mr. Cherry has 37 years experience in educational equity issues. After graduating from the University of Florida School of Law, he was a Staff Attorney for Florida Rural Legal Services, a migrant farm worker legal services program in south Florida. He later directed the Pima County Legal Aid Society in Tucson, Arizona. He also served with the U. S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Region VIII in Denver, Colorado. He then served as Director of Equity Development for Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), the second largest school district in Arizona.

Jayne Cookman - Literacy Lab Office Assistant, Senior

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Maria Fierro - Department Graduate Coordinator

Virgina P. Gonzalez - Department Secretary

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Yvonne Gonzalez - Department Administrative Associate

Yvonne Gonzales

Kimberly Jacobs - WREN Administrative Assistant

Kim Jacobs' administrative experience with budgeting, payroll, procurement, and scheduling makes a major contribution to her role as Office Manager. Kim Jacobs will probably be the first person you speak with when you contact WREN. Kim Jacobs' work experience includes several years at the Tucson Unified School District where her work assignment emphasized helping schools with equity-based issues.

Frances B. Miller - WREN Program Coordinator

Frances B. Miller, retired Sierra Vista Public School District educator with 27 years of previous career assignments as high school principal, district coordinator of human resources, assistant high school principal, elementary and high school media specialist and city librarian’s assistant. Several interim assignments have included the following: county coordinator of education services, district administrator on special assignment, Library Science (SC State University), Master in Teaching/Educational Administration and Secondary Education (University of Arizona) and Ed.D. in Educational Administration (University of Arizona).

Marcela Parra - WREN Assistant Director

Maracela Parra

Marcela Parra, who earned a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Kansas State University, has eight years educational experience in public schools, as a a certified teacher, paraprofessional, parental liaison in a K-6 school setting, and Title VII Bilingual grant director at the middle school level. As the Coordinator of National Origin for the Midwest Equity Center for the last six years, she assisted in the identification and implementation of curricular materials that ensure academic achievement in reading, math, and science for all students, conducted training for English as a Second Language programs development and implementation and has provided services in the identification and teacher training in the use of assessment instruments for English Language Learners. She evaluated the Title VII Bilingual education (K-5), Title IV Indian Education Evaluation, and a Title VII Special Alternative Instruction programs. She has written papers on such topics as literacy, issues in bilingual program evaluation, the sociolinguistic environment of a bilingual school and evaluation of maintenance and transitional bilingual programs.

Lupe Romero - AILDI Administrative Assistant

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Regina L. Siquieros - AILDI Program Coordinator Sr.

Regina L. Siquieros, American Indian Language Development Institute (AILDI) Program Coordinator Sr., is a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation.
She is a storyteller, singer of traditional O'odham songs and long time educator. She coordinates the AILDI annual June institute that provides effective training of language educators, practitioners and researchers from across the U.S., Canada, South America, and various parts of the world. Its primary mission has been to advocate Indigenous language rights and to ensure linguistic and cultural diversity. AILDI recruits tribal community members to enhance and join the University of Arizona's diverse community.

Mike Tully - WREN Support Systems Analyst

Mike Tully has been a licensed attorney for nearly three decades and is in good standing with Arizona Courts and the federal court system. He has also been a professional broadcaster for 40 years and co-hosted a radio talk show before joining WREN. After 15 years in private practice, Mike worked as Legal Counsel and Equal Opportunity Specialist for the Tucson Unified School District. He is the webmaster for WREN and works with our clients to coordinate E-Learning, including interactive web pages, online courses, web conferences, and video training. Mike is also familiar with the operation of the U. S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and can assist clients in formulating responses to OCR complaints. Mike provides in-service training in the areas of anti-discrimination law, NCLB, and harassment & bullying. Mike is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Bullying Prevention Association and is a Certified Trainer with the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.