Education 

MEd, Reading with Disabilities, Wilmington University, Wilmington, Del.  
BS, Elementary Education, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa.


Publications 

  • Contributing author to the action research book “The Poetic Classroom, A Collection of Lessons, Reflections and Poetry from Teachers and Students in Western Pennsylvania,” Autumn House Press

Awards & Recognition

  • Scholastic Writing Awards Judge
  • Expert Literacy Observer
  • Poetry Out Loud Regional Judge

Professional Memberships 

  • National Trainer for LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) 
  • The International Dyslexia Association
  • Western Pennsylvania Writing Project
  • ASCD
  • The Reading League

“My role at Carlow University is to prepare professional reading educators to become competent practitioners and agents for equitable literacy: ensuring every learner achieves full literacy through systematic and explicit teaching of reading, writing and spelling. The heart of Carlow’s MEd in Reading Specialist program is to develop literacy leaders who possess a deep knowledge in the cognitive science of reading and the instructional expertise necessary to employ evidence-based practices that afford all students the opportunity to learn to read and write.” — Valerie Piccini

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