Dr. Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell is Associate Professor of Literacy and Urban Education at Louisiana State University in the College of Human Sciences and Education’s School of Education. Prior to joining the faculty at LSU in 2006, Sulentic Dowell was Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services, Area I, East Baton Rouge Parish, where she supervised 64 elementary sites. From 1999 – 2002, she was an assistant professor at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg where she was a faculty service learning scholar. She taught for 20 years in Iowa and Minnesota and is a National Board Certified Teacher in the area of Early Adolescence/English Language Arts. In 2007, she was awarded the Kenneth S. Goodman “In Defense of Good Teaching Award,” and she was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award from the former College of Education in 2012. She is the current editor of the Literacy & Social Responsibility eJournal, a journal of the International Reading Association. Sulentic Dowell’s research agenda includes three strands and is focused on literacy in urban settings, specifically: 1) the complexities in literacy leadership, 2) providing access to literature and promoting voluntary free reading, and 3) service-learning as a pathway to prepare pre-service teachers to teach reading authentically in urban environs.
The Kenneth S. Goodman “In Defense of Good Teaching Award,” 2007. Goodman Award nominee based on her personal dedication to literacy efforts in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System and for her economic and social sacrifice in pursuing those efforts.
Academic Service-Learning Faculty Fellow, University of Southern Mississippi, 2001.
The International Reading Association recognized her dissertation as a Finalist, Outstanding Dissertation of the Year, 2000.
University of Iowa Distinguished Teacher Recipient, 1991.
US West Outstanding Teacher Program, Iowa Finalist, 1991.
Iowa Reading Association, Reading Teacher of the Year, 1990.
McElroy Trust Gold Star Teacher Award, 1990.
Sulentic Dowell, M-M. ( 2011). A Post-Katrina Urban Narrative: Pre-service Teachers’ Experience with Classroom Libraries and Literacy Preparation. Journal of Balanced Reading Instruction.
Sulentic Dowell, M-M. (2011, January). Audience matters. PRIME TIME News and Views e-newsletter.
Hoewing, B. & Sulentic Dowell, M-M. (2010). The Elementary Principal as Chief Literacy Officer: Myth, Legend, Fairy Tale or Reality? Journal of the Southern Regional Council of Educational Administration. 63-73.
Blanchard, P. & Sulentic Dowell, M-M. (2010). Science and Literacy as Social Responsibility: A Transdisciplinary Approach to Service, Learning and Teacher Preparation. Literacy and Social Responsibility eJournal, 3 (1), 8-22.
Daigle, B. & Sulentic Dowell, M-M. (2010). Can digital storytelling improve outcomes for students with autism?” Georgia Journal of Reading, 33 (1), 25-34.
Sulentic Dowell, M-M. (2010). Inventing pedagogy and methods: Opportunities for service and learning. A. Cooksey and Kimberly T. Olivares, (Eds.), The Preparation of Preservice Teachers for Urban Classrooms, Quick Hits for Service Learning (pp.19-21). Indiana Campus Compact Series. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Sulentic Dowell, M-M. (2011). Preservice Teachers Explore Pedagogy & Service-Learning in a place Called New Orleans East: Assumptions, Tensions, & Innovation in a Post-Katrina Charter School. Chapter submitted for consideration in Cultural Dynamics and Tensions within Service-learning. (N. Webster and T. Stewart, Eds). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Bickmore, L. & Sulentic Dowell, M-M. (in press). Teaching in Louisiana Charter Schools. In M. Richardson, (Ed.), Teaching in Louisiana. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishing.
Selected Presentations
2011, November, National Council Teachers of English, When Do They Write? Where Do They Write? What Do They Write? A Collaborative Partnership of Writing Instruction among Schools, a District, and a University. Chicago, IL.
2011, May, 56th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association. “Addressing the Language Strengths of Typically Marginalized Learners.” Orlando, FL.
2010, December, 60th National Reading Conference. “Creating Literacy Leaders: Elementary Principal as Chief Literacy Officer”. Fort Worth, TX.
2010, October. University Council on Educational Administration. “Instructional Leadership in Charter Schools: Barriers, Obstacles, and Hurdles.” New Orleans, LA.
2010, October, Southern Regional Council of Educational Administration (SRCEA) 51st Annual Conference. “Challenges and Opportunities of Charter School Principals.” Savannah, GA.
2010, October, Southern Regional Council of Educational Administration (SRCEA) 51st Annual Conference. “An Exploratory Study of Elementary Principals’ Theoretical Orientation toward Reading.” Savannah, GA.
2010, September, Five Years Post-Katrina Research Conference. “All that Jazz: Concerns of Charter Principals in Storm Impacted Communities.” New Orleans, LA.
2010, September, Five Years Post-Katrina Research Conference. “Overcoming Overwhelmed and Reinventing Normal: Will Katrina Research Impact Post-Katrina Crisis Policy?” New Orleans, LA.
2010-July, 23rd World Congress on Reading. “Re-inventing Literacy Education in Post-Katrina New Orleans: Global Lessons for Urban Teacher Preparation.” Auckland, New Zealand.
2010-April, 55th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association. “Envisioning the Elementary Principal as Chief Literacy Officer: Creating and Promoting Literacy Leadership to Encourage Proficient Teaching and Advance Student Achievement.” Chicago, IL.
2010-April, 2nd International Literacy Coaching Summit. “Re-Framing Literacy Leadership: Building Administrative Knowledge to Evaluate Teachers and Supervise the Coach” Institute. Corpus Christi, TX.
2009, December, 59th National Reading Conference. “Knowledge from the Past Informs the Present and Invents a Future in a Post-Katrina Charter School in New Orleans East: Strengthening Preparation for Urban Teaching by Establishing Classroom Libraries Through Course-embedded Service”. Albuquerque, NM.
2009, November, 24th Southeast Regional IRA Reading Conference. “Elementary Principal as Chief Literacy Officer: Advancing Literacy Leadership to Promote Proficient Teaching and Student Achievement.” New Orleans, LA.
2009, November, Mid South Educational Research Association 38th Annual meeting. “Reinventing Pre-service Education in a Post-Katrina Venue: Rethinking Professional Course Structure by Providing Service and Using Access to Literature through Classrooms Libraries to Enhance Preparation for Urban Teaching.” Baton Rouge, LA.
2009, October, Southern Regional Council of Educational Administration (SRCEA) 50th Annual Conference. “The Elementary Administrator as Chief Literacy Officer: Myth, Legend, Fairy Tale or Reality?” Atlanta, GA.
2009-May, 54th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association. “Reinventing a School through Academic Service-Learning: Pedagogy, Recovery, Discovery and professional development in a Post-Katrina Charter School. “Minneapolis, MN.
2009-April, First International Literacy Coaching Summit. “Literacy 101: A Professional Development Coaching Initiative Designed to Improve Literacy Learning through Best Practice.” Corpus Christi, TX.
2009-January, 7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education. “The Elementary Principal as Literacy Leader: Myth, Fairy Tale or Fable?” Honolulu, HI.
2009-January, 7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education. “Innovative Teacher Preparation for Urban Environments: Utilizing a Post-Katrina Charter School in New Orleans as an Intensive Field Experience Site.” Honolulu, HI.
Selected Grants/Funded Projects
East Baton Rouge Parish School System Louisiana State University College of Education Professional Development Writing Initiative Partnership. (EBRPSS LSU-COE PD WIP) [70,000.00].
College of Education Chandler Research Grant. East Baton Rouge Parish School System Louisiana State University College of Education Professional Development Writing Initiative Partnership (EBRPSS LSU-COE PD WIP). (Principal Investigator) [$5000.00].
College of Education Chandler Research Grant. “Re-inventing Literacy Education in Post-Katrina New Orleans: Global Lessons for Urban Teacher Preparation.” (Principal Investigator) [$1500.00].
College of Education Chandler Research Grant. “An Examination of Charter School Leadership.” (Co- Investigator) [$1500.00].
Teaching Enhancement Fund Travel Grant. [$750.00].
University Presbyterian Church (UPC) Community Service Grants. “Providing Access: A Cornerstone of Reading & Writing Development” (Principal Investigator) [$841.98].
The LSU/SU Pilot Professional Development Project (PPDP) at Louisiana State University, a Board of Regents LaSIP grant. 2009-2012. (Co-Investigator) [$956,344.50].