SDSU School of Teacher Education
Literacy Faculty
Marva Cappello cappello@mail.sdsu.edu
Marva Cappello, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education in the College of Education at San Diego State University where she teaches courses in literacy including methods and assessment classes. Her research focus is on the processes and products of elementary school writing. Recent national conference presentations have focused on writing and a unique qualitative methodology, photography. Dr. Cappello is currently the director of the San Diego State University/Chula Vista Elementary School District Partnership.
Ricardo Cornejo cornejo@mail.sdsu.edu
Nancy Farnan nfarnan@mail.sdsu.edu
Nancy Farnan has spent her life in classrooms, as both a classroom teacher and reading specialist, where her commitment to students' literacy development has consistently been a central focus. That commitment reaches into every aspect of her work--with children and adolescents in elementary, middle school, and secondary classrooms, and in collaboration with teachers in ongoing professional development. Currently, she is Director of the School of Teacher Education in the College of Education. She still spends much of her time in classrooms, working in schools and school districts as they develop writing programs across grade levels. Dr. Farnan serves on the Center for the Advancement of Reading's Single Subject Reading Task Force, speaks regularly at state and national conferences, serves on several editorial boards, and publishes her work in such periodicals as Reading and Writing Quarterly, Journal of Reading, and The New Advocate. Her books include Writing Effectively: Helping Children Master the Conventions of Writing, co-authored with Leif Fearn (Allyn & Bacon, 1998); Children's Writing: Perspectives from Research, co-authored with Karin Dahl (International Reading Association, 1998); Interactions: Teaching Writing and the Language Arts, co-authored with Leif Fearn (Houghton Mifflin, 2001); and Content Area Reading and Writing: Instructional Strategies (2006, edited by D. Lapp, J. Flood, & N. Farnan, 3rd edition, Lawrence Erlbaum).
Leif Fearn lfearn@mail.sdsu.edu
Leif Fearn is Professor in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University. In his thirty years at San Diego State, he has served in four departments and two colleges, teaching lower division and upper division undergraduates as well as credential candidates and graduate students. He teaches courses in reading and writing, social studies, and liberal studies. He also work widely with schools and districts in staff development that centers on literacy programs. Professor Fearn writes widely in both short and long fiction as well as nonfiction. With Nancy Farnan, he has written books on teaching capitalization and punctuation and on intentional writing instruction. Also with Nancy Farnan, he has written the six-book series titled "Get Writing" at levels K-1-2-3-4-5. He works widely with school districts as they develop schoolwide writing instructional programs.
Douglas Fisher dfisher@mail.sdsu.edu
Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the College of Education, Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University where he teaches classes in English language development and literacy. His background includes adolescent literacy and instructional strategies for diverse student needs. He often presents at local, state and national conferences and has published a number of articles on reading/literacy, differentiated instruction, accommodations, and curriculum development. He currently serves as the Director of Professional Development for the City Heights Educational Pilot.
Margie Gallego mgallego@mail.sdsu.edu
Patricia R. Kelly PRKelly@mail.sdsu.edu
Patricia R. Kelly is a Professor in the College of Education at San Diego State University. She is the Interum Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research. She is a trainer for the Reading Recovery program and a member of the Research Committee of the Reading Recovery Council of North America. Dr. Kelly has conducted research and published numerous articles on reader response, teacher development, effective instructional practices in literacy, and early intervention.
Diane Lapp lapp@mail.sdsu.edu
Diane Lapp, Professor of Reading and Language in the Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University, has taught in elementary and middle schools. Dr. Lapp who codirects and teaches field based preservice and graduate courses spent her recent sabbatical team teaching in a public school first grade classroom. Dr. Lapp has coauthored and edited many articles, columns, texts, handbooks and children’s materials on reading and language arts issues. These include the following two which were codeveloped with James Flood: Teaching Reading to Every Child a reading methods textbook in its fourth edition; and The Handbook of Research in Teaching the English Language Arts, second edition soon to be released. She has also chaired and cochaired several IRA and NRC committees. Her many educational awards include being named as the Outstanding Teacher Educator and Faculty Member in the Department of Teacher Education at SDSU, the Distinguished Research Lecturer from SDSU’s Graduate Division of Research, a member of the California Reading Hall of Fame, and IRA’s 1996 Outstanding Teacher Educator of the Year. Dr. Lapp is the coeditor of California’s major literacy journal The California Reader.
Barbara Moss bmoss@mail.sdsu.edu
Barbara Moss is a professor of literacy at San Diego State University and the Director of the SDSU Literacy Center. She served as a middle and high school teacher for ten years and and as a reading supervisor for eight years in Ohio. She received her Ph.D. from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio in 1988. She worked as a literacy professor at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio unitl 1999, when she moved to San Diego. She joined San Diego State University in the fall of 2001. Her research interests are related to content area reading and the uses of nonfiction trade books in the classroom. She teaches TE 637, TE 530, and TE 933.
Pamela Ross pross@mail.sdsu.edu
Dr. Pamela Ross is a Professor Reading/Language Arts at San Diego State University. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology of Reading, MS in Reading, and MA in Romance Languages from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the faculty at SDSU in 1977 and has served as Associate Director, and Director of the School of Teacher Education as well as the Resident Director of the California State University International Program in France. She was instrumental in developing the CLAD and Blended Credential programs for the SDSU campus. Dr. Ross founded the SDSU Community Reading Clinic in 1988 and is currently director of the new clinic facility housed in the SDSU Literacy Center. She serves as an advisor to students in the Graduate Program in Reading and Language Arts and teaches doctoral and clinical courses in the graduate program. She coordinates literacy outreach efforts for the SDSU Literacy Center such as the America Reads Challenge and the Summer Reading Program for K-12 children. Dr. Ross is past president of the California Professors of Reading, author of numerous reading-related articles and grants, and has edited the “In the Classroom” section of The Reading Teacher for the International Reading Association. Her special areas of interest include assessment in reading and language arts and interventions for struggling readers.