Chair, Department of Education
About Me
Dr. Margaret Policastro is a professor of language and literacy at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois, where she serves as chair of the Department of Education in the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences (CHESS). She directs the literacy leadership program and is the founding director of the Summer Reading Clinic for children. Margaret has over 40 years of teaching both undergraduate and graduate students in language and literacy at Roosevelt University. She has worked for over 15 years on grant-funded literacy and high-impact tutoring projects in Chicago Public Schools and the metropolitan area. She was the principal investigator of the Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) grant from the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE), sponsored by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Margaret is currently the faculty director for the Metropolitan Chicago Tutoring Corps (MCTC), sponsored by A Better Chicago (ABC), Lohengrin Foundation, and the Polk Foundation. Margaret grew up in South Bend, Indiana, and attended Indiana University, where she received her B.S. in Art and Elementary Education and her M.S. in Reading. After teaching art and reading in Indiana, she moved to Chicago, Illinois, and earned her Ph.D. at Northwestern University in reading and language. Dr. Policastro’s research interests currently focus on high-impact tutoring, access to books for parents, children, and teachers, and on-going professional development for teachers and what effects these have on student learning. Dr. Policastro has published 3 books, numerous book chapters, articles, and presented at hundreds of conferences and invited presentations nationwide.
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