Faculty

Reading Program Coordinator

Dr. Jacquelyn Sweeney is the graduate reading coordinator and an associate professor in Teaching, Learning and Professional Development within Bowie State University’s College of Education. Dr. Sweeney’s interests and research focuses on preparing inservice and preservice teachers for literacy instruction within diverse classrooms. Dr. Sweeney has taught in K-12 and Higher Education institutions within Michigan, Indiana, Maryland, California, and Arizona.

Ph.D. Curriculum, Teaching & Policy: Literacy Focus, Michigan State University (2012)
Dissertation Title: Veteran Teachers Working in Diverse Communities: Noticing Students, Families and Communities.

M.S. Curriclum & Instruction: Technology Focus, Purdue-Calument
B.A. Social Science & Language Arts: Teacher Certification K-8 and 9 (Communications), University of Michigan-Flint

Selected Publications/Creative Works

Edwards, P. A., Peltier, M. R., Sweeney, J., Reichmuth, H. L., White, K. L., Castle, A. (Accepted). Shifting towards socially just family engagement: In-service teachers’ reflections and recommendations about teacher preparation experiences. In P. A. Edwards, C. C. Lilly, G. Lee (Eds.), International handbook of literacies in families and communities.
Peltier, M., Edwards, P.A., & Sweeney, J.S. (2024). Reframing family Engagement: Inclusive Strategies That elevate and validate. School Community Journal, Vol. 34, No. 2,
Edwards, P.A. & Sweeney, J.S. (2023). Social Justice and Equity:Impact on Home, School, and Community Partnerships. In the Seventh Edition of Best Practice in Literacy Instruction. Editors: Morrell, E., Morrow, L., & Casey, H.
Damrow, A. L., & Sweeney, J. S. (2019). Beyond the bubble: Preparing preservice teachers through dialogue across distance and difference. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 255-265.
McGuire, M. (2019). “How Can I Say This So You Will Stay?” A play inspired by the research of Sweeney, J. & Damrow, A. Presented at the Kennedy Center Page to Stage (Sept 2, 2019) and the BSU Fine and Performing Arts Center (Sept. 3, 2019).
Edwards, P., Paratore, J., & Sweeney, J. (2014). Working with parents and the community. In the Adminstration & Supervision of Reading Programs, 5th Edition. Editors Shelley Wepner, Dorothy Stickland, & Diana Quatroche.
Li, G., Sweeney, J., Protacio, S. & Ponnan, M. (2013). A Team Training Approach to Professional Development: Perceptions and Practices of In-service Teachers of ELLs in Two Urban High Schools for inclusion in the volume, “Professional Development: Perspectives, Strategies, and Practices.” Book chapter accepted. Nova Publishers.

Selected Presentations

Sweeney, J., Dibble, J., & Gorzo, C. (2023). Diversifing & Creating a Teacher Cohort: School-University Partnership Toward Licensure. SIG-School, University, Community Collaborative Research. Round Table Session. AERA Conference. Chicago, IL.
Damrow, A., & Sweeney, J. (2019). Building relationships, strengthening professional learning, and inspiring a play: A story of peer-to-peer dialogue across institutional boundaries. Ethnography in Education Research Forum. Penn Ethnography Forum.
Sweeney , J. (2017). Teachers’ Religious Ideologies and Classroom Equity. SIG Religion and Education Paper Session. AERA San Antonio, TX.

Sweeney , J., Garin, E., & Clayborne, P. (2017). Sustained Professional Development: Scholar Circle Collaboration toward Equity. Division K Paper Session. AERA Conference. San Antonio, TX.

Damrow, A., & Sweeney , J. (2017). Focus on Equity: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers through Dialogue across Distance and Difference. Division K Paper Session. AERA Conference. San Antonio, TX.

Sweeney, J. & Damrow, A (2017). Employing Distance Media Tools to Facilitate Diversity Dialogue. The Learner Conference. Honolulu, Hawaii.

Damrow, A. & Sweeney, J. (2017). Learning to Engage Real People in all their Diversity: Dialogue Among Pre-service Teachers. The Learner Conference, Honolulu, HI

Sweeney, J. & Garin, E. (2016). Involving PDS Teachers: Strengthening Writing through Culturally Responsive Practices. National Association for Professional Development Schools. Washington, DC.

Sweeney, J. (2015) The Cultural Fabric of Five: How life stories influence teacher noticing. AERA. Div. K: Teacher and Teacher Education. Chicago, IL.

Sweeney, J. (2015). Shades of Noticing: Unpacking Teachers’ Attention in Diverse Classrooms. Association of Teacher Educators (ATE). Phoenix, AZ

Dr. Peter Parker

Dr. Peter Parker is an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Professional Development in Bowie State University’s College of Education. Dr. Parker’s interests and research focuses on literacy instruction across diverse language groups, sociocultural influences on learning, reading comprehension, and program evaluation. Dr. Parker has taught in K-12 and Higher Education institutions within Illinois, New Hampshire, Japan, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction, Elementary Education, Division of Language and Literacy Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009).
Dissertation title: Examining the comprehension strategies of Chinese and English readers: A study of bilingual and monolingual first, second and third grade elementary school students
Teaching English as a Second Language, Division of English as an International Language, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1998).

Recent Publications

Parker, P. under review). Perception and reality: Arabic EFL students’ academic writing. Journal of Second Language Writing.
Parker, P. (2021, Fall). Addressing plagiarism: Experiences from an ESL program. Maryland TESOL Quarterly, 4, 9-18.

Recent Presentations

Parker, P. (2021, December). Reading miscues and the linguistic influences of the writing system: A cross-linguistic study. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting for the Literacy Research Association (LRA). Atlanta, Georgia.
Parker, P. (2021, November). What Teachers Should know About Arabic ESL Students’ Grammatical Errors. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Maryland Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MD TESOL), online.
Parker, P. (2021, March). Sociocultural Factors in International Students’ University Experiences. Paper presented at the annual meeting of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), online.
Parker, P. (2020, November). Arabic Speakers’ Difficulties with English Suffixes: Implications for ESL Teachers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Maryland Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MD TESOL), online.

Dr. Olga Pabón

Dr. Olga Pabón has been an educator in the Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland for the past 24 years. Starting her career as a 6^th grade Reading/Language Arts teacher, she has also served as reading specialist, a literacy coach, and an elementary principal. She is a proud alumna of Howard University where she earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership. Currently, she is the Instructional Supervisor of Reading/English Language Arts in the Office of Curriculum and Instruction. In this role she is responsible for writing the curriculum and training teachers on the best strategies to meet the needs of secondary students. She is dedicated to creating a curriculum that is culturally responsive in theory, practices, and pedagogy as well as selecting culturally diverse and inclusive instructional resources centering the many faces and voices of our students. Dr. Pabón is also a member of Bowie State’s Adjunct Faculty in the Masters of Reading Program. She currently teaches courses that prepare graduate students to become a Reading Specialist and/or Literacy Coach in our public schools.

Additional Faculty

Dr. Eva Garin (adjunct)
Dr. Jennifer Knight (adjunct)
Ms. Sandra Figueroa (adjunct)