Research at Cal State Fullerton (M.S. Education, Reading and Literacy)

At CSUF, I researched best practices to explicitly teach 5 key elements of literacy and how to assess the need of struggling readers, but I became interested in how motivation and choice influence learning to read. All readers need to be taught these 5 elements and with the research I have done I can meet them where they are at and help them along the way.

Results from Reading Partners (AmeriCorps), Longfellow Elementary, Pasadena

After grad school, I became Regional Site Coordinator for Reading Partners, working with 11 schools in the Pasadena/Los Angeles area. And then continued on with a second year of service and became a reading center coordinator at Longfellow. My results and highlights of 2 years at the centers in summary:
-Enrolled 65 students and maintained 95% attendance
-Delivered 400+ hours of one on one sessions with students
-Assessed and created individualized reading plans for students outside of the curriculum, 90% of whom increased their rate of learning and produced the highest learning scores in the Los Angeles region.
-Taught 80+ tutors how to teach reading to our students.

Assistant Teacher with Reading Emphasis, St. Marks, Altadena

After two years working and serving with AmeriCorps, I started working for St. Marks to assist in classroom activities with reading emphasis, as well as substitute teaching when needed. My experience in-classroom has led me to see the importance of individualized education for struggling readers. When stressed, apathetic, or frustrated, a group environment can be very difficult for students. Now I’m focusing on providing individualized instruction to prepare readers to read in all environments with what they learn in the safe space of our sessions.