Welcome.
Dr. Jody Polleck is a full professor and the program coordinator for literacy education at Hunter College in New York City. She trains Birth-12 pre and in-service teachers across all disciplines in how to integrate culturally responsive and sustaining literacy instruction into their classrooms. In addition to training teachers, Jody has continued to teach adolescents for the past 25 years in a variety of urban settings.
Academic Journey
Jody completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland-College Park, majoring in journalism and English with a minor in women’s studies. She began her work with adolescents in 1994 when she was an outreach counselor for displaced youth in Washington, D.C. For three years, she received extensive training in social-emotional learning and culturally sustaining counseling approaches, particularly with young people who have been marginalized due to their socio-economic and immigrant status, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.
Professional Background
Jody later finished her Master’s at the University of South Florida in English education and worked for six years as a middle and high school literacy and English teacher for students in a dropout prevention program. During this time, she received National Board Certification for adolescent and young adulthood/English language arts. In 2003, Jody received a full fellowship to New York University (NYU) where she completed her doctoral degree in English education. Her research focused on urban adolescent females of color and their experiences in student-led book clubs. Jody explored how these alternative, supplemental forums were effective in not only promoting literacy but social and emotional development as well.
Classroom Experience
While studying at NYU, Jody continued her work in schools, serving as an English teacher, a literacy coach, and a literacy intervention specialist. Jody collaborated with teachers across the content areas to not only infuse literacy in their classroom in culturally sustaining ways but she also provided small group instruction for students who were reading or writing below grade level. She has worked in a variety of classrooms from science to history so as to deliver literacy instruction that is discipline-specific.
Professional Contributions
In addition to teaching and researching, Jody has trained teachers at the national and international level and, because of her expertise in backward design, she has developed district and regional curricula for literacy, reading, English, science, and social studies. Jody offers an array of workshops and coaching expertise in such areas as vocabulary development, comprehensive literacy instruction, culturally responsive and sustaining instruction, writing, differentiation, and unit/lesson planning.
Research & Publications
Her current research agenda focuses on differentiated and culturally sustaining literacy instruction, both in her own teaching with adolescents and her professional development with educators. A recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholar Award, in 2019, Jody conducted research on using book clubs to empower neurodiverse adolescents. Jody has published in over 25 books and journals including ALAN Review, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, English Journal, High School Journal, Journal of Teaching Writing, Literacy Research and Instruction, Preventing School Failure, Reading and Writing Quarterly, Reading Horizons, and Teacher Education Quarterly. Her first book entitled Facilitating Youth-led Book Clubs as Transformative and Inclusive Spaces was released by Teachers College Press in 2022.
Recognition and Awards
Throughout her career, Jody has continually received stellar evaluations of her teaching, coaching, and professional development workshops. In 2016, she was awarded Hunter College’s Educator of the Year. Jody’s greatest strength comes in building relationships with her students, spanning from middle school to doctoral levels.
Teaching Philosophy
Her goal is to always meet people where they are, discovering their strengths and building from those. She is both kind and flexible—and always makes herself available when needed. A lifelong learner and teacher, Jody is dedicated to improving educational systems through ways that are humanizing, equitable, and culturally sustaining.
Let’s connect.
Interested in working together? Contact Jody here or email her at jody.polleck@gmail.com