Towson University

My Department

CURRENTLY: 
Dr. Martinez is a faculty member in the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy in the Graduate Reading Program at Towson University. 

Her work involves:

• teaching graduate reading courses,
• researching pre-kindergarten English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students' literacy progress in south Florida,
• researching the successes of college students from urban areas throughout the United States that received a scholarship through the Ron Brown Scholar Program,
• developing an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) special topics course for teachers working on their Master's in Education-Reading who wish to attain ESOL certification. 
• and serving on various university, state, and national organizations.
• The ESOL course will be offered this summer abroad in
  Costa Rica!  Click on the following link to get more information:
• Graduate Reading in Costa Rica - Study Abroad - Towson University

PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCES:
As a reading specialist, she has taught several graduate level reading courses at the Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College in Maryland, and Towson University.  She created and advised for the ESOL graduate programs at JHU.  She also provided technical assistance (i.e.; assistance with curriculum development, program evaluation, grant writing) and professional development to administrators, teachers, childcare providers, parents, and librarians throughout the nation.

Dr. Martinez has presented at various state and national conferences on topics such as best practices in early literacy instruction, ESOL reading and writing strategies, mentoring beginning teachers, team building, and creating home-school connections.  She is fluent in Spanish, and enjoys providing workshops to parents in her native language.

EDUCATION:
She has an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education-Science from the University of Maryland, a M.S. in Education-Reading from the Johns Hopkins University, and an Ed.D. in Teacher Development and Leadership, also from the Johns Hopkins University.

Her dissertation was a multiple-case study of 26 Maryland public librarians from ten libraries in urban, suburban, and rural areas.  By interviewing and observing librarians, she investigated how they were implementing information from an emergent literacy training they attended (that she and Elaine Czarnecki provided) into their daily practices.  She also reviewed the librarians' outreach documents.  Her goal was to unveil how the training was being used, what librarians were doing during their story times to promote school reading readiness skills, and what types of outreach they provided.  The results were positive.

Poster Session:  ESOL 101

(to access the PowerPoint, click on the tab located on the upper left-hand side of this page)

Presented March 31, 2008 at the National Family Literacy Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

Last Updated: 4/10/2008 7:26:07 AM