Department: School of Education

Academic Credentials

Ph.D in Educational Administration, Curriculum, & Supervision, University of Oklahoma; Credential in Elementary Education, Southwestern Oklahoma State University; M.B.A. in Management, Southwestern Oklahoma State University; B.S. in Business Administration, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Bio

Dr. Boyd began her teaching career in elementary education, teaching third grade for 13 years. After transitioning to higher education, she expanded her practice to teacher preparation, specifically in the fields of early childhood education, elementary education, and literacy instruction. Dr. Boyd has enjoyed serving as university supervisor for teacher candidates, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and developing graduate program options in Reading Specialist and Instructional Coaching. As Vice President for Student Affairs, she served as the senior student affairs officer, overseeing and managing institutional effectiveness through strategic planning, recruitment, admissions, registration, and retention initiatives. Dr. Boyd held direct supervisor responsibility over the Dean of Students, Student Activities, Title IX, Enrollment Management, Career Services, International Student Affairs, Registrar’s Office, Student Counseling Service, Student Health Services, Upward Bound, Wellness Center and Intramural Activities, Public Safety, and the Student Government Association.

Teaching Areas

Educational Leadership; Instructional Coaching

Research Interests

• Student Resilience • Service Learning • Teacher Preparation

Publications

Boyd, R. (2021). The Puzzle of Cocurricular Assessment (manuscript submitted) Boyd, R., Boyd, G.A., & Alexander, T. (2020). SWOSU Serves: An Integration of Service-Learning. National Social Science Association, 53(2), 25-30. Boyd, G.A. & Boyd, R. (2020). Leadership Behaviors of Effective Athletic Coaches: A Case Study. Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research, 15(1), 1-16. […]

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Academic Credentials

Bio

Dr. Jen Crystle joined Marymount in 2017 and most recently served as the head of the Office of Global Learning, Engagement, and Research. Throughout her career in international education, Jen has conducted research on international education policy, ethical issues in education abroad, and fostering global and social responsibility among students. Jen has extensive experience in higher education administration and leadership, with experience at both public and private institutions. She has served on several strategic committees, including committees on high impact practices, curriculum development, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. Jen has presented at numerous local and national conferences and has conducted many international site visits. Jen is a member of the Marymount Inclusion Network and she is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory.

Teaching Areas

Educational Leadership, Ethics and Social Justice, Global Leadership and Policy.

Research Interests

Her academic and professional interests include global education policy, intercultural and career competencies, experiential learning, and school leadership.

Publications

Crystle, J. (2020). The impacts of national and institutional policies on the internationalization of higher education in Australia: What it means for Australia and what it could mean for the United States. (Publication No. 28257465). [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Maryland, Baltimore County]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Crystle, J. (2014). Maximizing the study abroad experience at small liberal arts colleges: A comprehensive curriculum to support students throughout the pre-departure, immersion, and re-entry phases of the study abroad experience. [Master’s Thesis, Teachers College Columbia University]. […]

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Academic Credentials

Ed.D. in Educational Administration and Policy, University of Minnesota; M.Ed. in Educational Administration, University of North Texas; B.S. in Exceptional Student Education and Elementary Education. B.S., Syracuse University.

Bio

Dr. Baldanza is a life-long educator and transformational leader. She is a recognized turnaround expert and has committed her career to changing outcomes in Title I schools for more than 20 years. Dr. Baldanza works to improve equity and access for under-resourced communities. She has received recognition for her turnaround work moving failing schools to achieving schools through transforming culture; creating protocols for collaborative faculty learning; and funding schools more fairly. Dr. Baldanza now shares that knowledge with others who aspire to innovate the future of teaching and learning. Dr. Baldanza has served as a teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent in large and small districts around the country. She lives in Arlington, Virginia with her husband, teenage son, and two dogs.

Teaching Areas

Introduction to Education: Teaching and Learning (M.Ed.) Challenges of Leadership: Conflict and Crisis Management (Ed.D.)

Research Interests

Equitable School Funding Teachers as Leaders

Publications

Professional Practices for the 21st Century Leader and EmpowerED3.2.1 […]

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Academic Credentials

Ph.D. in Education, George Mason University; Masters in Special Education, George Mason University; Autism Certificate, George Mason University; BS in Marketing Management, Virginia Tech

Bio

I am passionate about serving God and using my gifts and talents to improve the lives of families and students with disabilities. I love research and sharing best practices with teachers and pre-service teachers. I especially enjoy working with families to help them gain a better understanding of their child’s needs and interventions that will help them. I’m a mother of an adult child with an autism spectrum disorder, a high school son, and two stepchildren. I love to travel with my husband. Fun Fact: When traveling in Mostar, Bosnia, my husband and I had coffee with a fighter from the Bosnian war and learned firsthand his experiences and atrocities.

Teaching Areas

Special Education, Mathematics

Research Interests

Family Collaboration, Evidence-Based Practices

Publications

Creighton Thompson, C. & Hauth, C., (2015). The Survival Guide for NEW special education teachers. Council for Exceptional Children. […]

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Academic Credentials

PhD in Education Policy, George Mason University; Master of Education, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Vermont; Bachelor of Science, Education, University of Vermont

Bio

Linda J. Mann holds a PhD in Education Policy from George Mason University. Mann currently serves as the Executive Director for the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern University’s School of Law. In 2018 Mann was awarded an Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability fellowship with Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR). Following her fellowship, she continued to work for ISHR establishing a U.S. African American Redress Network in collaboration with Howard University. Mann also served as Director of Clinical Experiences at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. Mann’s research focuses on the intersection of race, history and restorative justice policymaking. Mann previously worked for the Georgetown Memory Project and the American Educational Research Association. She is a veteran educator, a conflict resolution specialist and a 20+ year grass-roots organizer. Mann loves to kayak, run, hike and play outdoors with her dog Sunny.

Teaching Areas

Social Studies K-12; specialization in U.S. History and African American Studies, Ethics & Social Justice

Research Interests

The potential of restorative justice for U.S. Historical Wrongdoings

Publications

Mann, L. (2021). Unfulfilled restorative justice: Prince Edward County, Virginia and the Brown scholarship fund in Past/Present: Time, Memory, and the Negotiation of Historical Justice (invited). Routledge. In print Pellegrino, A., Mann, L., Russell, W., (February/March 2013). To Lift As We Climb: A Textbook Analysis of the Segregated School Experience. The High School Journal 96(3), 209-231. […]

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Academic Credentials

Ed.D. in K-12 School Leadership, Regent University; M.Ed. in Special Education, Marymount University; B.S. in Social Psychology, Park University

Bio

“Nicci T. Dowd, Ed.D. is a Marymount University alumna and an Assistant Professor for the School of Education. Dr. Dowd has worked as a Language Arts and Learning Strategies middle school and high school special education teacher. She enjoys raising awareness about community resources for students with disabilities and their families. Dr. Dowd is passionate about exploring barriers related to diversity, equity and inclusion in education and the community. Additionally, she collaborates with community stakeholders to identify recommendations for facilitating diversity in education and the community. She serves as a board member on several boards including the Arc of Northern Virginia, the Autism Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV), and the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE).
In her spare time, Dr. Dowd enjoys spending time with her family, grilling and relaxing on her front porch with her dog (Chuck Norris)!

Teaching Areas

Special Education: Foundations and Characteristics, Diagnostic and Corrective Literacy

Research Interests

Support for African American Males with Disabilities and their Families; Development of support programs for students with Autism; Development of support programs for Adults with Disabilities; and Diversity and Inclusion for Technology in Education.

 

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Academic Credentials

PhD. Educational Leadership and Management, American University;

Graduate certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders, James Madison University;

Post-Masters, Elementary Principalship, Indiana University of Pennsylvania;

MEd Reading, Kutztown University;

BS Elementary Education, Lock Haven University

Bio

Dr. Shannon Melideo has dedicated her entire career to the education profession. Dr. Melideo is a professor of practice in the School of Education in the College of Health and Education at Marymount University in Virginia, USA. She currently serves as a teaching faculty member and a Lead Doctoral Faculty Mentor for students in the EdD program. Throughout her career, she has presented and collaborated extensively on schoolwide, districtwide, campuswide, statewide, national, and international committees, research projects, and task forces. She taught grades 1, 3, 4, 5, ESOL grades K-5, music grades K-8, and 7th-12th grade biology in high needs schools. She has served as a mentor teacher, cooperating teacher, elementary administrator, and district coordinator of ESOL. On the university level, she has served as university department chairperson, supervisor, and associate dean. She recently returned to the elementary classroom as a lead teacher, and was nominated as teacher of the year thrice at her school. Outside of the world of education, Dr. Melideo enjoys traveling, reading, and dancing.

Teaching Areas 

literacy, collaboration, special education

Research Interests

Her current research interests are in teacher impacts on cultural competence and inclusivity and collaborative leadership.

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Academic Credentials

Ed.D. in Educational Administration, Hofstra University; M.S. in Secondary Education – Social Studies, Hofstra University; M.A. in 20th Century World History, Villanova University; B.A. in History, Virginia Wesleyan University

Bio

Dr. Lynda Herrera is an adjunct professor in the School of Education. Dr. Herrera began her career teaching secondary social studies in New York. As a military spouse, she has had the pleasure of teaching at multiple Universities in New York, Kansas, Hawai’i, and Virginia. Dr. Herrera strives to prepare pre-service teachers in the art and science of teaching using interdisciplinary, hands-on, higher-level thinking strategies. Her hope is that students leave her class with a toolbox of strategies they can implement in their classrooms to better connect elementary or secondary students to content in an engaging and stimulating way. She has served on the Editorial Board of the Social Studies and the Young Learner Journal for the National Council of Social Studies since 2011. She enjoys gardening, travel, and time with her husband and two children as she follows them around to various Comic-Cons.

Teaching Areas

Elementary Social Studies Methods, Research Methods, Secondary Teaching Methods

Research Interests

Engagement of young learners in social studies education; educational experiences of minority students in middle schools; examination of how pre-service teachers think through their experience as educators.

Publications

• Costello-Herrera, L. (2010). Diverse Schools Without Multicultural Curriculum. Race, Gender & Class, 88-92.  
• Costello, L. (2003). I was called a ‘spic’. In S. M. Alan Singer with Maureen Murphy, Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach: A Handbook for Secondary School Teachers (p. 45). Mahwah, NJ:: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Mac Curtain, M., Murphy, M., Singer, A., Costello, L., Gaglione, R., Miller, S., . . . Williams, N. (Spring 2001). Text and Context: Field-Testing the NYS Great Irish Famine Curriculum. Theory and Research in Social Education, 238-260.

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Academic Credentials

Ph.D. Education: K-12 Learning, Walden University; M.Ed. Education, Indiana Wesleyan University; B.S. Biology, John Carroll University

Bio

Dr. Peg Dispenzieri has served in Catholic education for 30+ years, beginning as a middle/high school biology teacher and then principal before accepting her current position as superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana.
As superintendent, Dr. Dispenzieri works closely with 20 schools across the diocese to support administrators and teachers in their mission of education and faith formation. She has been part of the adjunct faculty at Marymount University since 2008. Dr. Dispenzieri is also a pastoral musician—piano, organ, and guitar—and is blessed to regularly accompany liturgical celebrations at her church and schools.

Teaching Areas

Advanced Curriculum and Instruction for Educational Leadership

Research Interests

Catholic School leadership, Governance structure in Catholic schools, teacher and staff retention

 

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Academic Credentials

Ph.D in Education, George Mason University; M.A. in Teaching, University of San Francisco; M.A. in Asia Pacific Studies, University of San Francisco; B.A. in History, San Jose State University

Bio

Dr. Azevedo has worked in the field of education for over 15 years with a variety of experiences and expertise. She started her career as a high school social studies teacher. Prior to joining Marymount University, Dr. Azevedo was the Clinical Coordinator for Secondary Education at George Mason University where she collaborated with faculty, local school administrators and teacher leaders while coordinating placements for teacher candidates. As a teacher educator she’s taught numerous courses, supervised, and advised teacher candidates. In addition to her experience in teaching, Dr. Azevedo has supported national research projects about teacher effectiveness and consulted on local school districts’ research projects and initiatives. She is also the founder of The Meditating Teacher where she creates and writes about mindfulness practices for educators and school leaders. In her spare time she enjoys relaxing with her family, gardening, practicing yoga, and walking with her dog, Zoé.

Teaching Areas

Research

Research Interests

Teacher Education; Mindfulness in education; Clinical experiences in teacher education programs; Diversity in education

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