| Title | Professor |
|---|---|
| Department | Childhood Education and Care |
| Office | Sullivan Building 205B |
| Phone | 978.542.7427 |
| christina.cassano@salemstate.edu |
| EDC 708 | Early Childhood Med Pre-practicum |
|---|---|
| EDC 709 | Early Childhood Med Pre-practicum II |
| EDC 717 | Early Childhood Pre-practicum Seminar |
| EDU 727 | Literacy Learning: History, Theory & Research |
| EDU 920X | Practicum in Early Childhood Education |
| EEC 204 | Screen Time, Media and Technologies in the Early Years |
| EEC 311 | Risk and Resilience in Early Childhood |
| EEC 804 | Screen Time, Media and Technologies in the Early Years |
| EEC 811 | Risk Factors That Affect Children and Families |
Christina Cassano has a doctoral degree in Developmental Studies: Literacy and Language from Boston University. Her research interests include early literacy and language development with an emphasis on supporting multilingual learners in Head Start. Prior to coming to Salem State, Christina was a K-8 literacy specialist. She also has more than two decades of experience as an early childhood teacher in public schools and community based childcare.
Early literacy development
Oral vocabulary development
Supporting dual language learners in preschool
Lead Faculty for Early Childhood and Reading graduate programs
Faculty Director for Early, Out-of-School Time, and Literacy Initiatives - Institute for Advancing Education and the Educator Workforce (IAE2)
Faculty Lead for SELECT books
Books
Cassano C.M. & Paciga, K.A. (2023). Guided drawing with multilingual preschoolers: Developing language, vocabulary, and content knowledge. Teacher College Press
Cassano, C.M. & S.M. Dougherty (Eds). (2018). Pivotal research in early literacy: Foundational studies and current practices. New York: Guilford.
Chapters
Cassano, C.M. and Hoffman, J. (2024).The beginning: Reading with babies and toddlers. In J.A. Schickedanz & M.F. Collins (Authors) So Much More than the ABCs, Revised. New York: NAEYC.
Paciga, K. A., & Cassano, C. M. (2024). Does Knowing the Word Matter for Preschool DLLS? Individualized Vocabulary Words on Phonological Awareness Performance. AERA Open, 10. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241267929
Cassano, C.M. & Paciga, K.A. (2024). Guided drawing with preschool dual language learners in Head Start: Building science vocabulary and content knowledge. Education Sciences, 14(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14060625
Paratore, J.M., Cassano, C.M. & Schickedanz, J.A. (2011). Supporting early (and later)literacy development at home and at school: The long view. In M. Kamil, P.D. Pearson, E. Moje, & P. Afflerbach (Eds.) Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV. New York: Guilford Press.
Cassano, C.M. (2019). Effective, efficient, essential instruction: Retooling instructional approaches to phonological awareness. Presented at the Early Literacy Preconvention Institute Jump into the Early Literacy Trenches. New Orleans, LA.
Cassano, C.M. Neuman, S.B, Paciga, K., Lazarra, J., et al. (2019). We can’t level the playing field if we are playing different games: Strategies to support children at-risk. The Literacy Development for Young Children (SIG) Symposium presented at the International Reading Association. New Orleans, LA.
Cassano, C.M. (2019) Him have a thorax?: Using guided drawing to support vocabulary and concept knowledge in DLL preschoolers. A research presentation presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) annual conference.
Cassano, C.M. (2018). Pivotal research in early literacy. A symposium presented at the Literacy Research Association conference. Palm Springs, CA.