Grand Challenges: Maryland Initiative for Literacy & Equity (MILE)

All Day, H.J. Patterson Building, #2130
The symposium will showcase interdisciplinary and translational language and literacy research done by students and faculty at UMD and Morgan State University. Lunch will be served. Attendees will enjoy a student poster session, a keynote from Dr. Rebecca Silverman of Stanford University, and lightning presentations from faculty finalists for the first-ever MILE Innovation Seed Grant.
Learn more and register at: https://www.mile.umd.edu/literacy-research-symposium-2025

Also see:
MILE Events Calendar

Summary:

A large proportion of the students who graduate from our public schools face barriers that prevent them from reading and writing at grade level. Achievement gaps in our schools systematically increase with the number of students living at or below the poverty line, coinciding with increasing segregation by race, ethnicity, and language background. This makes literacy achievement not just an educational issue, but one of equity and civil rights.

In the field of literacy, there is a global chasm between the science of language and literacy acquisition and the practice of teaching children how to read and write. Basic and translational research on language and literacy acquisition often overlooks or minimizes social and cultural contexts, leading to deficit perspectives toward culturally and linguistically diverse students, families, and communities.

The Maryland Initiative for Literacy and Equity (MILE) is harnessing research-to-practice partnerships in the fields of education, speech and language pathology, library sciences, policy, and community stakeholder outreach. These efforts are aimed at driving integrative research, both translational and basic, that is contextualized with respect to marginalized communities across race, culture, ethnicity, and language, as well as neurodiverse populations.

This initiative seeks to transform and integrate practices in education, speech pathology, library sciences, and parent/family engagement through streamlined and cutting-edge models of professional development and community outreach.

Leadership:

Donald Bolger (EDUC), Director, and Associate Professor, Human Development and Quantitative Methodology	Simone Gibson, Director, MILE @ Morgan State, Responsive Literacy, School of Education and Urban Studies, Morgan State University	Maggie Peterson (EDUC), Executive Director, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership	Jade Wexler (EDUC), Associate Director, Research, and Associate Professor, Special Education	Melinda Martin-Beltran (EDUC), Associate Director, Professional Development, Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
José Ortiz (BSOS), Associate Director, Community Outreach, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences	Brandi Slaughter (SPP), Associate Director, Policy Outreach, and Associate Clinical Professor, Public Policy	Jennifer Littlefield (SPP), Area Lead, Policy Education, and Lecturer, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Public Policy	Shanna Pearson (SPP), Area Lead, Policy Research, and Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, Public Policy	Kira Gor (ARHU), Area Lead, Language Diversity, and Professor, School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Courtney Overton (BSOS), Associate Director, Education, LEAP Preschool Lead, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences	Elizabeth Gotwalt (EDUC), Ed Terps Executive Director	Drew Fagan (EDUC), Associate Clinical Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership	Loren Jones (EDUC), Associate Clinical Professor

Contributors:

Colin Phillips (ARHU), Professor, Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, Linguistics, Director, Language Science Center	Ebony Terrell Shockley (EDUC), Associate Clinical Professor, Executive Director	Jennifer Turner (EDUC), Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership	Elizabeth Bonsignore (INFO), Assistant Research Scientist, Information Studies	Rochelle Newman (BSOS), Professor and Chair, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences
Juan Uriagereka (ARHU), Professor, School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Dept. of Linguistics	Shevaun Lewis (ARHU), Assistant Research Professor and Assistant Director, Language Science Center	Eliza Thompson (BSOS), Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences	Ayanna Baccus (EDUC), Associate Clinical Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership	Nan Bernstein Ratner (BSOS), Professor, Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Director of Graduate Studies, Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program
Christy Tirrell-Corbin (EDUC), Clinical Professor, Human Development and Quantitative Methodology	Susan De La Paz (EDUC), Professor, Special Education	Jason Chow (EDUC), Associate Professor, Special Education	Jeff MacSwan (EDUC), Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership	Kellie Rolstad (EDUC), Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership
Rachel Romeo (EDUC), Assistant Professor, Human Development and Quantitative Methodology	Ana Taboada Barber (EDUC), Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Innovation and Partnerships	Veronica Kang (EDUC), Associate Professor, Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education

Partnerships:

Morgan State University
Prince George’s County Public Schools
Montgomery County Public Schools
Howard County Public Schools
Baltimore City Schools
Maryland Speech & Hearing Association