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Faculty and Staff

Diane Barone Ed. D.- Professor

Diane Barone is a foundation professor of literacy at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research focuses on young children's literacy development and instruction in high poverty schools. She has conducted two longitudinal studies of literacy development: one, a four-year study of children prenatally exposed to crack/cocaine and two, a seven-year study of children, predominantly English Language Learners, in a high-poverty school. She has had articles published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, Elementary School Journal, The Reading Teacher, Gifted Childhood Quarterly, and Research in the Teaching of English. She has written several books: Resilient Children, Research-Based Practices in Early Literacy, and Using Your Core Reading Program and Children's Literature K-3 and 4-6. She works in public schools to enhance student learning in literacy and she has mentored teachers seeking National Board Certification. She served as the Editor of Reading Research Quarterly and was a board member of the International Reading Association and the National Reading Conference. She is currently Editor of The Reading Teacher with Marla Mallette.

Diane Barone's Curriculum Vitae

Cynthia Brock, Ph. D- Professor

Cynthia Brock is a Professor in Literacy Studies in the Center for Learning and Literacy in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her primary teaching interests include literacy instruction for children in the middle and upper-elementary grades, literacy and diversity, and qualitative methods. She studies the literacy learning of upper-elementary children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. She also explores how to work with pre-service and in-service teachers to foster the literacy learning of children from diverse backgrounds at the upper-elementary level.

Cynthia Brock's Curriculum Vitae

Julie Pennington, Ph. D- Associate Professor

Julie Pennington is an associate professor of literacy studies in the College of Education. She has focused on the areas of literacy and diversity throughout her career as a classroom teacher for fourteen years and currently as a teacher and educator and researcher. Her research interests include the use of autoethnography in teacher education and pursuing questions related to how teachers approach literacy instruction in linguistically and culturally diverse settings. She is the author of The Colonization of Literacy Education and several articles and book chapters focused on issues related to literacy instruction in diverse settings with particular attention to how race is constructed in schooling at all levels.

Julie Pennington's Curriculum Vitae

Dianna Townsend, Ed. D- Assistant Professor

Dianna Townsend is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Studies in the College of Education at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research specializations are in the areas of academic language and adolescent literacy. Her research has been published in The Elementary School Journal, Reading Research Quarterly, Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, among others, and focuses on the vocabulary development of English learners as well as the broader construct of academic English. Dr. Townsend teaches classes in content area literacy, adolescent literacy, and literacy foundations and research, and she was formerly a secondary English teacher. Her doctoral work included research on the early identification of ELLs with reading difficulties and the development and experimental evaluation of an after-school vocabulary development intervention for middle-school English Learners. Her current research, which is funded by research grants from UNR, investigates the importance of academic language proficiency for achievement across content areas, as well as best practices for professional development in providing academic language support to struggling readers. Dr. Townsend also conducts extensive outreach to local school districts, providing support to secondary teachers and their students.

Dianna Townsend's Curriculum Vitae

Danya Bellamy -Instructional Assistant for the CLL Tutoring Center

Danya Bellamy has a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a Master's Degree in Literacy Studies. She has been a teacher in the Washoe County School District for 7 years and is a WCSD on-site mentor for first year teachers.  Danya currently assists Dr. Julie Pennington as a class mentor for University of Nevada, Reno undergraduate students who tutor for the E.L. Cord Center for Learning and Literacy. 

Shawna Claiborne- Graduate Assistant for the CLL Tutoring Center

Shawna Claiborne is a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Center for Learning and Literacy. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with bachelors degree in Elementary Education in May 2010. She is currently working towards her Master's Degree in Literacy Studies. Shawna is a full time college student and also enjoys substitute teaching and volunteering in the Washoe Country School District.

Christopher Wood- Graduate Assistant Reading Buddies

Christopher loves reading! He studied linguistics for his undergraduate degree. He is working on a Masters Degree in the field of education with a focus on literacy studies. His favorite drink is coffee. Christopher is a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the University of Nevada, Reno. He will be working with the Reading Buddies Tutoring Program at the Center for Learning and Literacy. His favorite children's book is "How I Became a Pirate".