Co-Director, Literacy Education Program
Undergraduate Class of 2017 Advisor
Education
Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction
Areas of Literacy and Special Education
University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
M.Ed. Special Education
Areas of Learning Disabilities,
Mental Disabilities and
Emotional Disabilities
University of North Carolina
At Chapel Hill, North Carolina
B.A. Biology
State University of New York
At Geneseo, New York
Biography
Wendy Smith joined the Loyola Education Department in 2003. Since then, she has taught a variety of reading courses, both graduate and undergraduate. She previously served as chair of the Teacher Education department. Wendy is an active member of the Loyola Quilting Guild, has participated in Sophomore Road Trip and multiple diversity reading groups both as a reader and as a leader. Prior to coming to Loyola, Wendy was a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Korea, a special education teacher in rural North Carolina and an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming.
Awards and Grants
Knott Foundation Grant for Technology in the Clinical Centers (One of many writers on this grant application.)
Summer Research Grant: What’s the Story? Adoptive Parents’ Reactions to Books on Adoption, Awarded spring 2007 for summer 2007
Year of the City Grant: Retrospective on Children’s Book Authors, Spring 2006 (Awarded fall 2006)
Junior Sabbatical: Professional Development Schools in Maryland, awarded December 2006 (for fall 2007)
Research Interests
Research interests include analysis of children’s books, children’s responses to books, and educating teachers about the realities of child abuse and family violence. She is currently conducting a longitudinal research project with middle school girls at a single-sex school in Baltimore.
Recent Publications
Articles and Chapters
Smith-D’Arezzo, W. M. (2011). Professional development schools: How collaborative are mandated PDSs in the state of Maryland? National Teacher Education Journal.
Smith-D’Arezzo, W. M. and Musgrove, M. (2011). Two professors critique the representations of Africans and African Americans in picture books. Equity and Excellence in Education.
Smith-D’Arezzo, W. M. and Moore-Thomas, C. (2010). Children’s perceptions of peers with disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 6(3), Article 2.
Smith-D’Arezzo, W. M. and Thompson, S.A. (2009). Topics of stress and abuse in children’s literature for intermediate readers. International Journal of Education, 1, 1-19.
Thompson, S. and Smith-D’Arezzo, W. M. (2007). War: Interpretations through children’s literature. Social Studies Review, 47, 8-12.
Smith-D’Arezzo, W. M. and Thompson, S. (2006). Topics of stress and abuse in picture books for children. Children’s Literature in Education, 37, 335-347.
Review Essays and Sample Reviews
Numerous books reviewed in School Library Journal and in Children’s Literature Online Database
Dissertation
Characters with disabilities in children’s literature: Recognizing our similarities through diversity. University of Wyoming.
Professional Activities/Society Memberships
International Reading Association (IRA)
Literacy Research Association (LRA)
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Kappa Delta Pi (KDP)
Maryland College Professors of Reading (MCPR)