EDUCATION Equitable Access to Literacy: How does Federal Policy Affect Schooling? Professor: Wendy Smith This course is designed to assist students in understanding the literacy process—how children learn to read and write. It is taught using research-based theoretical models of literacy supported by our socio-cultural understanding of how people interact with the world of print. Current educational policy at the state and federal levels will be examined with the purpose of determining how government policy can increase or decrease a population’s access to literacy. Visits will be made to a local public school, a charter school, and a private Catholic school to investigate literacy curriculum and curricular decisions. Wendy M. Smith, associate professor and chair of the teacher education department, earned her Ph.D. at the University of Wyoming, where she worked as an instructor and assistant professor in literacy prior to coming to Loyola in 2003. Her areas of expertise are children’s literature that includes characters representing marginalized populations, such as children who are learning disabled, abused, or bullied. | |