Language & Literacy

Alumni & Careers

Christine Chang, Ed.M.'08

After graduating from the Language and Literacy program, I accepted a position working as part of the curriculum design and development team at Avalon English, a language school in South Korea. Our team consists of native Koreans and a diverse group of foreigners dedicated to creating outstanding material for our students. We all work together to create detailed lesson plans and workbooks for elementary and middle school students.

I have already learned so much about Korean students' English language development. I am fascinated to compare their development with that of Korean American students, who were the focus of my papers and readings during my time at HGSE. Even with the differences, I am grateful for my experiences and learning in L&L because I have a firm foundation in students' English development that I can still apply in Korea.

Wing Cheung, Ed.M.'07

Before I came to HGSE's Language and Literacy program, I taught at an urban middle school in Houston where most of my sixth graders struggled with reading and writing. I knew that I needed a strong theoretical and research-based knowledge in children's literacy development, so I enrolled in the L&L program. I was particularly drawn to the Reading Specialist track because it combined course work with practical experience in Cambridge-area schools.

I'm now a licensed K-12 Reading Specialist in Massachusetts but chose to go back to the classroom as a fourth grade teacher at The Chestnut Hill School, a small independent school right outside Boston. The school uses a co-teaching model and I am mainly responsible for all the literacy aspects of the curriculum for our grade. There's no doubt that I'm more confident in my position because I'm able to apply much of what I learned in the L&L program.

I also keep in touch with my cohort and Dr. Mason, and we've managed to get together several times throughout the year. Because we were such a small group, we grew close as colleagues and friends and that has made my L&L HGSE experience that more memorable.

Janelle Colosi, Ed.M.'09

Coming from a long line of educators, I believed that the only way to be in education was to be a teacher. After graduating from SUNY Geneseo, I moved to North Carolina to teach third grade where I was a member of the student support team and served as the guided reading trainer for my school. While I loved the students, I chose to pursue my master's degree in educational administration where I knew I could make a difference across classrooms. It was during this time that I realized the need for elementary educators as well as administrators to be experts in literacy. This led me to apply to the Language and Literacy Program at Harvard University. Upon my arrival, a whole new world beyond the classroom opened up for me. I am fortunate enough to have found a career where I am able to use both of my master degrees and am currently working as a reading coach for Beverly [Mass.] Public Schools and as an educational specialist for the division of developmental medicine at Children's Hospital Boston. My coursework and practical experience in grad school have enabled me to really hone in on the source of stumbling blocks on the road to reading fluency.

Meghan Greenberg, Ed.M.'09

I am currently teaching sixth grade English Language Arts at a public middle school in a suburb of Boston. I feel like a completely different teacher than I was before the Language and Literacy Program. It's hard to admit how far many of my old teaching habits were from research-based best practices. In many ways, teaching has gotten easier. When I plan lessons, I have a mental menu of research-validated teaching methods from which to choose. I know how to structure writing assignments so that all of my students will be able to produce high-quality, "A"-level work because I'm explicitly teaching them how to do so. In another sense, teaching has gotten much harder. I used to make excuses for my weakest students' failures. This one was an English Language Learner, that one has problems at home, and that one has a disability, so of course they were going to fail. Thanks to my year at the Ed School, I now feel strongly that I need to hold myself accountable for all of my students' outcomes. I now want to be judged by my weakest students' work rather than to make excuses for their failures.   

Even after such an intensive, rich year of professional learning in the Language and Literacy Program, I know that I will not be the teacher my students need me to be if I do not continue to grow as a teacher. I also know that the L&L Program gave me the knowledge base, the skills, and the drive to keep learning. The most important thing I learned in the program was how to be, as L&L Program Director Pamela Mason says, "a critical consumer of research." I am grateful that as the field of literacy advances, I have the skills to evaluate research and integrate new findings into my practice.  Even more, I am grateful for my professors' support and my colleagues' camaraderie as I continue my journey in this challenging, rewarding profession.

Sheeba Jacobs, Ed.M. '04

Since graduating from HGSE, I have been implementing a curriculum in different parts of India (Kerala and Bangalore) with another HGSE alumna, Smita Trivedi. The curriculum is a combination of Facing History and Ourselves, The Social Justice Education Institute, and our own resources from previous teaching experience. Our work looks at how to get students more involved in their local communities as to make effective positive changes (through a history and literature based focus), in addition to being more tolerant of each other despite differences.

While in Kerala for the first four months, I observed that everyone--from the autorickshaw driver to the man who tapped toddy from coconut trees to the local shop owner--can read and avidly read the newspaper on a daily basis. In a few months, I will be returning back to the States and look forward to sharing and implementing what I have learned here, back over there.

Amanda Jones, Ed.M.'07

Prior to attending HGSE, I could never have imagined how much it would change my life. I am currently the Literacy Coordinator at a public middle school in Boulder, CO. My position includes teaching remedial reading classes, working with content area teachers to make their classes more accessible, and designing curriculum. I am on the school improvement team, the RtI team, and work district wide with new reading teachers. Most of my students are Latino and many are second language learners; all are struggling with reading. I love my job and I love living in Colorado! (Last year I skied over 40 days!) My year at HGSE was overwhelming, challenging and looking back - fun! I find myself frequently using both the practical and more philosophical knowledge I gained throughout the L&L Reading Specialist Licensure program. This knowledge in combination with my colleagues from my cohort; experienced and thoughtful educators who I still consider my biggest resources and best friends, have made me a better teacher!

Eric Kinne, Ed.M.'04

I taught 9th and 10th grade English for two years through the Teach For America program in a small town on the border of Mexico in South Texas. I'm originally from Maine, and after two years in the hot and humid Rio Grande Valley (RGV) I came to Harvard to pursue a master's degree in Language and Literacy. After completing the master's program, I realized that the Texan in me had overtaken the Mainer in me, so I returned to the RGV as a program director with Teach For America. Currently I support 57 first and second year teachers across all content areas and grade levels. This entails everything from observing their teaching and providing feedback to planning and facilitating content-specific collaborative teams to connecting teachers to great resources that will help them improve. I love all things literacy (especially given that so many of our students here are behind in reading and writing levels), and this year I'm spearheading a new effort to train our teachers in literacy. I'll be leading monthly seminars on elementary, content, and ELA literacy strategies, and I'm excited to see how this plays out in classrooms across the RGV. My job is great, because I get to see teachers facilitate the learning process with kids. I also love playing tennis, am an amateur magician (it's a little hobby of mine), and have dreams of one day owning a farm in rural Maine and living a semi-self-sufficient life.

Jen Letcher, Ed.M.'03

After graduating from HGSE in 2003, I returned home to Chicago to work for the Chicago Reading Initiative. The CRI is a program sponsored by the Office of Literacy of the Chicago Public Schools. I spend most of my time at Carpenter Elementary School on the city's west side, serving there as a reading specialist and as the director of the school's academic after-school programs. This year I am also a member of the citywide training team for the Illinois Reading First program, an early literacy initiative that provides professional development and support for over 100 CPS schools. I love the work that I do, and feel incredibly fortunate to have gone through the Language and Literacy program before beginning this work. My time at HGSE not only provided me with excellent practical experience and theoretical knowledge, but also allowed me to develop my skills as a member of a small, supportive, and incredibly knowledgeable group of students and faculty. This combination of experience and support gave me the confidence I needed to take on the challenge of working in a struggling urban school.

Armida Lizarraga, Ed.M.'08

I came to the L&L program with numerous questions stemming from teaching in international elementary and US public schools for 13 years. I wanted to learn more about reading acquisition in minority students and how language research and policy affects them. While at HGSE, I tailored my policy courses to domestic and international educational issues and purposely chose to write papers and do projects that tied literacy to policy. L&L courses also helped me solidify my knowledge about reading acquisition. This experience made me reexamine my role as an educator. One of my long-term goals now is to do something to improve literacy in my country, Peru. Currently, I am working as a Research Associate in Professor Nonie Lesaux's Language Diversity and Literacy Development Research Group at HGSE, where I will have the opportunity to investigate language development in minority students and the effects an intervention curriculum for high academic vocabulary has on middle-school student reading comprehension.

Kia Martin, Ed.M.'01

Even though I graduated in 2001 from the L&L masters program, I did not leave HGSE. I stayed to pursue my doctorate in L&L. Yes, I loved the program that much! My doctoral research focus is on the reading achievement of Black males in special education. I recently completed my qualifying paper which was a case study of the literacy experiences of two third grade Black males in inclusive classroom settings.

The master's program was an awesome experience. While in the program, I was able to connect theory to practice through the reading specialists certification program and to fuel my interest for conducting research. I have most enjoyed being able to stay connected to classroom. Since I have been at HGSE, I have supervised reading specialist in training through the Jeanne Chall Reading Lab and have taught courses at local universities. The opportunities at HGSE are endless. By taking advantage of all that HGSE has to offer, I feel better prepared to continue my life's work as an educator.

Yenda Prado, Ed.M.'05

I'll be working as a Bilingual Family Literacy Specialist for Grail Family Services in San Jose California. Grail is a social service agency which serves low-income, primarily Spanish speaking individuals. Grail is trying to add a literacy component to the program offerings. I'll be working on improving their children's library, "Read To Me" early literacy program, and a mother's discussion group.

It makes me so happy to know that I'll be working with an organization where I'll be able to use everything I learned this past year! I really believe that if it wasn't for the knowledge I gained during my year in the L&L program I wouldn't have done as well during my interviews. I also think that the combination of courses I took this past year is perfect for what I'll be doing.

Jessica Scott, Ed.M.'08

As a current doctoral student in the Human Development and Education program at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, I found the Language and Literacy master's degree program to be extremely beneficial. The introduction to research I received in the L&L program gave me the foundation I needed to get started on my doctoral career while still keeping me connected with what goes on in classrooms. It allowed me to investigate my specific areas of interest while also providing me with a thorough education on the development of language literacy skills among students of all ages. The L&L program has provided me with a solid knowledge of how to best assess and instruct struggling readers and writers. The program prepared me to take advantage of several research opportunities, both within Harvard and at other universities in the Boston area.

Life After Harvard

It is evident by their career choices that graduates of the Language and Literacy master's program are committed to the field of education. But as seen by the wide array of careers, alumni are doing work both in and out of the classroom.

What Are L&L Alumni Doing?

Senior Analyst, international for-profit government and business consulting firm
English Teacher, bilingual school
Assistant Professor, university
Reading Teacher, public school
Academic Coordinator, private school
Department Chair, middle school
Director of Programs, private university
Director, literacy center
Fellow, policy and research foundation
Doctoral candidate, university
Literacy Specialist, public school district
Academic Case Manager, school specializing in language-based learning disabilities
Professor, college
Asst. Editor, newsletter
Director of Small Business Marketing, software company
Clinical Teacher, nonprofit literacy center
Literacy Consultant, government organization
Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist, public hospital
Reading First Implementation Facilitator, state department of education
Research Associate, private university
Associate Clinic Director, learning center specializing in learning disabilities
Program Planning Specialist, private university
Teacher, public school
Researcher, public university
Senior Research Teacher, private university

Where Are L&L Alumni Working?

McGraw Hill
Harvard Education Letter
University of California, Los Angeles
Concord Academy
National Defense Academy
Abt Associates
Milton Academy
Harvard University
Education Alliance
Brown University
New Alternatives for Children
University of Michigan
Asian American Civic Association
Massachusetts Dept of Education
Boston Public Schools
The Heritage Foundation
Osaka Jogakuin College, Japan
Beth Israel Medical Center
Tufts University
Georgetown School of Law
Educators Publishing Service
World Education
Centre for Research on Literacy
Stern Center for Language and Learning
New York City Public Schools
Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes
Carroll School