Meet the Team

Patricia Morita-Mullaney, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Dr. Patricia “Trish” Morita-Mullaney is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at Purdue University. She is a licensed K-12 teacher, coach, and administrator from Arizona and Indiana where she taught and led ELL adult education, middle and elementary school. She currently serves as the Indiana Chapter for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (INTESOL) journal editor and was recently recognized for her outstanding teaching contributions with Indiana in-service teachers. Her areas of research include the intersections between language learning, gender and race and how these factors inform the identity acts of educators of bilingual students. Dr. Morita-Mullaney oversees all PUEDE and LEVERAGING project components, including administration, staff supervision, finances, recruitment, instruction, data collection, analysis and meeting timelines, benchmarks, and evaluations. When she is not dedicating her time to researching and educating at the university, she enjoys running in road races, sewing, traveling and most importantly, spending quality time with her spouse, 18-year-old twins, and dog.

More about Dr. Morita-Mullaney

Jennifer Renn, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator

Dr. Jennifer Renn is an Associate Research Scientist in the College of Education at Purdue University. As co-Investigator, Dr. Renn manages the design and implementation of the research components of Project PILAR and supervises the project’s graduate student assistants. Prior to joining Purdue, she was the Director of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington D.C., where she directed the English for Heritage Language Speakers Program and worked in K-12 English language assessment research. She was an Institute of Education Sciences postdoctoral scholar in early child education at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) from 2010-2013. Dr. Renn has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in general linguistics, language instruction, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, assessment, and field methods at institutions including Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Purdue University. She uses mixed methods approaches to investigate topics related to sociolinguistics, language assessment, educator training, instructional coaching, dual language bilingual education, and language variation and identity. Dr. Renn is an avid runner and enjoys traveling and hiking with her husband and her border collie.

More about Dr. Renn

Wayne E. Wright, Ph.D.

Co-principal Investigator

Dr. Wayne E. Wright is Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Programs and Faculty Development, and is Professor and the Barbara I. Cook Chair of Literacy and Language in the College of Education at Purdue University. He is co-editor of the Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, Editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement, and Co-Editor of the Bilingual Education and Bilingualism book series published by Multilingual Matters. He is also the co-author of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (6th Ed., 2017), Co-Editor of the Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education (2015), and author of Foundations of Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice (2nd ed., 2015). Dr. Wright’s research focuses on language and education policy, and effective and equitable programs for English language learners and other linguistic minority students. He was a bilingual (Khmer) and ESL teacher in Southern California and was a former Fulbright Scholar in Cambodia. Prior to Purdue, he was a faculty member in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio from 2004 – 2014. In 2016 he was the recipient of the Charles A. Ferguson Award for Outstanding Scholarship. Dr. Wright’s project responsibilities include overseeing the development of the ELD framework for the pre-service undergraduate EL course (EDCI 370), the in-service graduate EL courses (EDCI 530 and 559) and the implementation of the ELD framework into two literacy methodology courses (EDCI 326 and 361). He also supervises the creation of materials for dissemination for educational services centers.

More about Dr. Wright

Annie García

Project Manager

Annie García is the project manager for Project PUEDE, Leveraging the Lectura y Lenguaje, and Project PILAR. She is currently pursuing and Ph.D. in Literacy and Language with a focus on Borderlands Theory, Critical Latino Theory, and microaggressions. Mrs. Garcia previously taught at ENL, Heritage Spanish, and Spanish I, II, and III at the high school level for ten years. Her husband is a native Spanish speaker, and this has helped to contribute to raising her their three children in a bilingual household. As the project manager, her responsibilities include communicating with participant teachers, overseeing the data collection of the family component, collecting and organizing classroom data, and managing graduate students working on the project. When she is not busy working on the projects, she enjoys spending time with her family and dogs.

Alejandro Barquero-Sierra

Graduate Student

Alejandro Baquero-Sierra is a Ph.D. student at Purdue University studying literacy and language education. He graduated from the National University of Colombia with a B.Sc. in psychology and the Superior School of Public Administration with a Master’s in public administration. He worked as a research adviser and psychosocial coordinator for early childhood development programs in Colombia before joining Purdue University. As a graduate research assistant, he currently collaborates with Dr. Morita-Mullaney and the project group. His research interests include early literacy development, family engagement in dual language education, and trauma-informed pedagogy.

Rong Zhang

Graduate Student

Rong Zhang works as a research assistant in the Leveraging, PUEDE, and PILAR projects. She is a doctoral candidate of the Language and Literacy Program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Rong’s research interests include family language and literacy practices, multimodal literacies, bilingual education, and children’s picture book reading. Rong also takes an active part in the Literacy and Language Development Clinic to promote reading and learning with children’s literature regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition, she works as the journal assistant of First Opinion Second Reaction journal. Before being a doctoral student, she completed her master’s degree in English as a second/foreign language. She also had experiences teaching English and Mandarin to ELL students in China, America, and Mexico. Rong is also an ELL herself as she is fluent in Chinese and English. In spare time, Rong enjoys birdwatching. Her balcony always welcomes visitors of robins, cardinals, and jays. 

Susan W. King, M.S.

Bilingual Data Analyst

Susan W. King is the bilingual data analyst for the project. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English at Milligan College in 2000 and a Master of Science degree in Language Education from Indiana University in 2009.  She has 19 years of experience in the field of second language acquisition and bilingual education, spanning both the public and private sectors. She has served populations from ages five through adult throughout central Indiana and abroad, having worked as an English Learners Specialist, an Instructional Coach, and a district-level administrator within four Indiana school districts. She has also worked as a guest ESL Program Coordinator in the Philippines and an Adjunct Professor and Research Assistant for Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). She specializes in applying scientifically-based research to best practices in English Language Development (ELD) instruction and analyzing student performance data to improve instruction for teachers of English Learners. She is passionate about advocating for under-represented populations in the K-12 classroom and the critical role that explicit language instruction plays in the academic success of all learners. She is excited to have a role in advancing the mission of Project PUEDE and Leveraging the Lectura y Lenguaje and views both projects as an extraordinary opportunity to prepare and empower educators, families, and community members to meet the unique needs of English Learners across Indiana. Susan has traveled to more than 25 countries throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas and she still dreams about being a professional chef when she grows up. Her favorite things include hiking, cooking, and spending time with her family in Cincinnati, OH.

Haiyan Li, M.A.

Graduate Student

Haiyan Li is a doctoral student in the department of Curriculum and Instruction of the College of Education at Purdue University. She is also an on-leave associate professor in the College of Foreign Languages at North China Electric Power University. She has taught a variety of English language courses for postgraduates, undergraduates and K-12 levels in China for 20 years. Her current research interests include second language acquisition, bilingual language and literacy development of EL students and translingual pedagogy in linguistically diverse classrooms. She is enthusiastic for the projects to leverage instruction for English Learners (ELs) and assist parents in improving ELs’ literacy and academic development.

Woongsik Choi, B.A. and M.Ed.

Graduate Student

Woongsik Choi is a Ph.D. student in Literacy and Language Education at Purdue University. He received B.A. and M.Ed. in English language education from Pusan National University, South Korea. Prior to joining Purdue, he was an English teacher in South Korea and taught English as a foreign language at public high schools. He is currently working with Dr. Wright and the project team as a graduate research assistant. His research interests include bilingual education, English as a second/foreign language, and technology-enhanced language learning and teaching.

Claudia Krogmeier, B.A.

Graduate Student

Claudia Krogmeier, videographer and virtual reality researcher, received her B.A. in Telecommunication and French from Indiana University. She is currently pursuing a master’s in Computer Graphics Technology. Claudia enjoys writing and directing engaging and experimental short films and music videos.  Thanks to several great adventures, she has recently filmed in Haiti and Kenya and loves working with passionate, creative people. Fluent in French, Claudia is actively learning Spanish and loves filming families across Indiana in order to promote ELL practices in the home.

Annamarie King, B.A.

Graduate Student

Annamarie King is a master’s student at Purdue University pursuing a degree in Speech-Language Pathology. As an undergraduate at Indiana University who pursued dual degrees in Speech and Hearing Sciences and Spanish, she taught English to students in grades 6-12 in Seville, Spain during a semester abroad. This opportunity allowed her to lead interactive classroom lessons and work with small groups of students in need of additional support. Additionally, she assisted with research projects focused on the development of word retrieval abilities in monolingual and bilingual children through the Indiana University Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences. As a future Speech-Language Pathologist, it is her goal to improve individuals’ abilities to communicate. Working with bilingual children and families through these projects will empower her to fulfill her aspiration of assisting a broad population of people in need and improve her understanding of language acquisition and development in bilingual children.

Breeah S. Carey, B.S.

Graduate Student

Breeah S. Carey is a master’s student at Purdue University pursuing a degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She received her B.S. degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences with minors in Spanish and Psychology from Purdue University in May 2018. After she receives her Masters, Breeah plans to work as a pediatric speech-language pathologist focused on improving the communication successes of minority populations, including Spanish speaking children. Although Breeah has not yet pursued a degree in education, she has an interest in working towards a teacher’s certificate and envisions herself one day opening her own school.