William J. Raggio

Rachel Salas Ph.D. Associate Professor of Literacy Studies Emailrgsalas@unr.edu Phone(775) 682-7870 William J. Raggio This 118,000-square-foot building opened for classes in fall 1997. It houses the  <a href="https://www.unr.edu/education">College of Education</a>. Formerly known as the College of Education Building, the structure was renamed in 2003 in honor of Nevada State Sen. William J. Raggio, a Reno native, Nevada graduate and longtime K-12 and higher education advocate in the state of Nevada. <ul> <li><a href="https://www.unr.edu/education/centers-student-resources/centers/cfrc" class="intLink">Child and Family Research Center</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.unr.edu/education/centers-student-resources/centers/deans-future-scholars">Dean's Future Scholars Program</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.unr.edu/education/centers-student-resources/centers/elc">Early Learning Center</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.unr.edu/cll">E.L. Cord Foundation Center for Learning and Literacy</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.unr.edu/education/centers-student-resources/centers/learning-and-resource-center">Nell J. Redfield Learning & Resource Center</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.unr.edu/raggio-center">Raggio Research Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education</a></li> </ul> 080 WRB 39.5420223482299 -119.815093427896 false /global/images/around-campus/raggiobuilding.jpg 1997 3059 0280

Dr. Salas focuses on the academic literacy needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) and the preparation of teachers to work with, and meet the needs of an increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse student population. In addition, she addresses issues of race, culture and language in the classroom, in academic environments and in children's literature. She has more than twenty years of experience working with high poverty, Hispanic, and culturally and linguistically diverse learners and their parents. Her university teaching career began at a designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in south Texas and has taken her to universities and schools in North Carolina, California and Nevada. Her current research deals with the sociocultural aspects of language and literacy development, the preparation of teachers to teach in a culturally and linguistically diverse society and on improving literacy instruction provided to English Language Learners (ELLs) and students who are in at-risk conditions. She is also interested in studying the complex relationship between the cognitive and linguistic demands of academic literacy in school and informal educational settings. She is passionate about science and technology and has been involved in forming and co-coaching a robotics club for elementary school children. Her robotics teams have competed at local First Lego League competitions affording the students immeasurable academic, social, and technical opportunities. She teaches courses in adolescent literacy and children's literature. <a href="main/pdfs/verified-accessible/colleges-schools/education/cv/llc/RachelSalas.pdf" title="CV for Rachel Salas" class="button interchange-background-text-button">Curriculum Vitae</a>

<ul> <li>Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin</li> <li>M.A., Catholic University of America</li> <li>B.A., Loyola Marymount University</li> </ul>