Becca Gibson Ph.D.

• Associate Professor of Education

Growing up, I was always the girl with a book in her hands. I loved reading and I loved writing, and I thought a profession where I could share that love would be teaching! I was right, but I couldn’t have predicted quite how magical or life-changing having a role in teaching young children to read would be. After obtaining my undergraduate degree and elementary teaching certification, I knew I wanted to gain expertise in the reading field, which led to a Master’s degree in Reading Education and Reading Specialist Certification. Serving as a Reading Specialist and Literacy Coach in the public school system, I was humbled to be a part of the literacy acquisition adventures of young learners every day. My Ph.D. studies deepened interests in vocabulary acquisition in children, the role of nonfiction texts in primary classrooms, early intervention for reading difficulties, and emergent/beginning writing development and instruction in young learners. When I completed my Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a Literacy focus from the University of Maryland at College Park, I knew that one day I wanted to work with pre-service teachers and help prepare them to bring the gift of literacy to their future students.