Maria joined the Institute in 2006, after three years of working for the Institute as a graduate assistant. She is presently pursuing doctoral studies in Adult Education at Penn State University. Prior to her Penn State experience, she designed staff trainings and developed resources for early childhood educators, provided technical assistance to Head Starts and child care centers in the accreditation process, coordinated family literacy activities, conducted parent education as a home visitor and community educator, established toy lending libraries, and taught preschoolers with special needs.
Here at ISAL, Maria works with the Penn State’s America Reads Program; is part of the professional development team for the Early Reading First project; and assists with the coordination of the Pennsylvania Family Literacy Consortium.
Maria's main areas of interest include several aspects of family literacy, curriculum and resource development, children’s literature, media literacy, informal educational systems, professional development, distance education, and historical research.
Email: mlm504@psu.edu
Phone: 814-865-7939
Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy
Penn State University, 208 Rackley Building, University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-3777 Fax: (814) 863-6108
isal@psu.edu