Sandra Mercuri
Education and Professional Experience

Education
Ph.D. in Education with emphasis in Language, Literacy and Culture.  University of California at Davis.  Expected date of completion December 2006.
M.A. in Bilingual Cross-Cultural Education, Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, CA May 2000.
Licenciada en Letras (equivalent of an M.A. degree) Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina, March 30, 1996 with a specialization in Spanish and literature.

Topic of Dissertation: The development of academic language across the content areas in bilingual students.

Employment
2004-Present
Bilingual Education Program Director
Directs the program, advises students, arranges courses and recommends Adjunct faculty for the department.  Organizes and administers the BCLAD Exam at Fresno Pacific University.

TESOL Program Director
Directs the program, advises students arranges courses and recommends Adjunct faculty for the department.  Organizes and administers student placements for TESOL practicum.  Represents Fresno Pacific University at the Higher Education Consortium in the Central Valley.

2001- 2004
EXCELL Grant Coordinator. Title VII grant for teachers and personnel at Fresno Pacific University.  Total amount $750,000.
This grant prepared student teachers for CLAD and BCLAD credentials and for teaching in dual immersion settings. 

2000-2004
Adjunct Faculty - Fresno Pacific University
Taught graduate classes in Bilingual Education, and Language Acquisition as well as teacher education courses in curriculum and foundations of language and literacy with a focus on English Language Learners.

1997-2001
Teacher - Sun Empire Elementary School, Kerman Unified School District.
Taught in a multiage class of grades 4-6 for newcomers many of whom were limited formal schooling students. Directed the whole school production of "The Nutcracker" for four years and advised the yearbook and journalism clubs.

1988-1996
Chairperson of the Language and Literature Department, Instituto General Alvarado High School,
Miramar, Argentina
Director of the Arts and Modern Languages Institute, Miramar, Argentina.

Additional Experience
2004-Present
Graduate Research Assistant – Linguistic Minority Research Institute at University of California at Davis.
Coordinator of the Biliteracy Consortium at the Linguistic Minority Research Institute.

2004-2005
Visiting Professor - National Hispanic University, San José, California.
Presented latest research on differentiated instruction, effective practices to work with students in dual language settings and on ways to close the achievement gap.

2004-2005
Lecturer – Weber State, Salt Lake City Utah.
Developed and implemented the Bilingual Endorsement coursework. 
Developed and administered to Salt Lake City School District teachers a comprehensive bilingual exam as a pilot for the State of Utah’s Bilingual endorsement language proficiency level.

2003-Present
Editor -TESOL Bilingual Interest Section Newsletter

2005
Reviewer - National Geographic School Publishing
Work as a reviewer with the National Geographic School Publishing Group based in Washington D.C to review their new literacy program for English Language learners.

Reviewer – Scholastic Publishing
Work as a reviewer with Scholastic Magazine department based in New York to review the k-2 Scholastic News magazine in both English and Spanish as support materials for teachers in the content areas.

Staff Development 
Extensive work with 5 schools districts in the Central Valley of California (Parlier, Fresno, Lindsay, Laton and Hanford) as well as with schools in Los Angeles, California, Region XV, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah. 

2003-Present
Educational Consultant – Salt Lake City School District, Utah
Work with bilingual teachers and program and district administrators developing and aligning programs across schools, developing appropriate dual language curriculum, and creating thematic units with appropriate materials in both languages.  Course work and classroom observations followed by focus groups by site are implemented.

Educational Consultant – Parlier Unified School District
Work with 8-12 teachers on implementing Differentiated instruction across the disciplines.  Lecture and demonstrations were given followed by classroom observation and focus groups with participant to provide opportunities for reflective practice.
Work with K-6 Teacher on Differentiated instruction for dual language settings focusing on academic language development in both languages.

Professional Associations
CABE (California Association of Bilingual Education)
NABE (National Association of Bilingual Education)
TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages).
NCTE  (National Council of Teachers of English)
IRA (International reading Association)
AERA (American Educational Research Association)
2Way CABE (Dual Langue California Association of Bilingual Education)
ATA (American Translation Association)