Expert Advisors

Dr. Andrea DeCapua

Andrea DeCapua, Ed.D. is a teacher, researcher, and educational consultant. She has held university appointments at several institutions of higher learning, including New York University and the University of North Florida. She consults with school districts and professional organizations and is an invited presenter in North America, Europe, and Australia. Her research interests include struggling culturally and linguistically diverse language learners, particularly students with limited/interrupted formal education (SLIFE) and culturally responsive pedagogy. Dr. DeCapua has published numerous articles, book chapters, and books, including a three-book series on SLIFE with H.W. Marshall: Meeting the Needs of SLIFE (2020); Breaking New Ground: Teaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (2011- new edition under contract) and Making the Transition to Classroom Success: Culturally Responsive Teaching for Struggling Language Learners (2013). Her e-book: SLIFE: What Every Teacher Needs to Know (2019) targets all classroom teachers with SLIFE.

Tiffany Peltier

former advisor

Tiffany Peltier received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Texas A&M University in Early Childhood Education and Reading Curriculum & Instruction. She is currently certified to teach early childhood, elementary, ESL, and as a Reading Specialist in Oklahoma. She has taught pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and 4 years of first grade in public and private schools in Texas, Maryland, and North Carolina, as well as reading and English language classes for 3rd-7th grade students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She has also worked as a Literacy Coach for K-3 teachers. At the university level, Tiffany has taught coursework at Texas A&M University on evidence-aligned reading instruction, assessment, methods, and the structure of language, supervised elementary preservice teachers in the field, and evaluated students with reading difficulties at the Texas A&M Reading Clinic.

Driven by her interest to improve student achievement and teacher training, Tiffany is currently a doctoral candidate in Learning Sciences at the University of Oklahoma and teaching undergraduate coursework within Reading, Learning Sciences, and Special Education. Her research interests include conceptual change theory, specifically relating to teacher training in reading and reading difficulties, such as dyslexia and DLD. She is also working as a Research Scientist with the Collaborative for Student Growth at NWEA.