Sharon Pratt

Sharon Pratt

Associate Professor, Literacy and Elementary Education

Year of Hire: 2014

Education:

                Bachelor’s of Science in Elementary Education: Mount Mercy College

                Master’s of Arts in Literacy Instruction and Curriculum: University of Northern Iowa

                Doctor of Education in Teaching and Learning: Liberty University

Welcome Note:

Coming from a background of teaching literacy and mathematics in an elementary school for 11 years, I have a passion to prepare teachers who are effective and compassionate.  Building a solid understanding in what literacy involves and learning evidence-based instructional practices to guide our K-12 students to become more literate are the goals of any course that I teach.  I look forward to the journey that I share with students as they prepare to become teachers who are world-changers!

Dr. Pratt's Biography:

Dr. Sharon Pratt joined the School of Education at Indiana University Northwest in 2014. She primarily teaches literacy methods courses for the Teaching All Learners Elementary Education Program. She holds an Ed.D. in Teaching and Learning from Liberty University and an M.A. in Literacy Instruction and Curriculum from the University of Northern Iowa.

As a faculty member and advisor for the pre-service teachers who enter the Elementary Education program, Dr. Pratt enjoys building relationships with students throughout their teacher preparation journey. Coming from her background of teaching elementary school children for 11 years, Dr. Pratt is passionate about preparing teachers who are effective and compassionate. She has also mentored undergraduate and graduate students in educational research, including designing field instruments and collecting and analyzing data of elementary students’ reading.

Her research interests primarily center around metacognition within literacy instruction and development, pre-service teachers' self-efficacy for instructional practices that align with the Science of Reading, integration  of multimodal science books within literacy instruction, and co-teaching  instructional practices. Her research has been published in several journals, including Action in Teacher Education, Elementary School Journal, Literacy Research and Instruction, Reading Psychology, Reading Teacher, and Reading Horizons, and Studying Teacher Education.

Dr. Pratt’s current service activities include serving as Tresurer of the Northwest Indiana Literacy Council and co-editor of the Indiana Literacy Journal for the Indiana State Literacy Association, both of which are connected to the International Literacy Association.  These service opportunities afford connections with state and local teachers who share an interest in literacy, and provide a way to connect IU Northwest School of Education students and graduates with teachers in the region. Additionally,the Indiana Literacy Journal is a peer-reviewed publication that disseminates findings of empirical research and research-based literacy instructional practices to an international audience through listings in EBSCO databases and open-access on the Indiana State Literacy Association website (www.indianareads.org).