• Bio:

    Dr. Jody Polleck is the program coordinator for literacy education at Hunter College. For the past 14 years, she has served as a secondary literacy intervention teacher and literacy coach. Jody completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland-College Park, majoring in journalism and English with a minor in women’s studies. She began her work with urban adolescents in 1994 when she was an outreach counselor for runaway teenagers in Washington, D.C. In 1999, she received her Master’s at the University of South Florida in English education and worked as a high school reading and English teacher for struggling and reluctant students in a dropout prevention program. In 2002, she received National Board Certification for adolescent and young adulthood/English language arts. In 2003, Jody received a full-fellowship to New York University where she completed her doctoral degree in English education four years later. Her research focused on urban adolescent females of color and their experiences in student-led book clubs. Jody explored how these alternative, supplemental forums were effective in not only promoting literacy but social and emotional development as well. In addition to teaching and researching, Jody has trained teachers at the district, state, and national level and has developed several regional curriculum guides for reading, English, and social studies. Her current research agenda focuses on differentiated, critical, and culturally responsive literacy instruction with urban youth. She has been published in 20 different books and journals including The High School Journal, Reading Horizons, ALAN Review, The English Journal, Journal of Reading Research, Reading and Writing Quarterly, and Teacher Education Quarterly.

  • Recent Publications:
    • Tijms, J., Stoop, M. & Polleck, J. (In Press). Bibliotherapeutic book club intervention to promote reading skills and social-emotional competencies in low SES community-based high schools: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Reading Research.
    • Polleck, J. & Espana, C. (In Press). Revolutions and resistance: Creating space for adolescent agency and advocacy through a critical reading of Sonia Manzano’s The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano. ALAN Review.
    • Polleck, J. & Jeffery, J. (In Press). Common Core and its impact on standardized testing: A New York case study. The High School Journal.
    • Polleck, J. (2016). Using nonfiction to advocate for change. English Journal, 105(4), 57-74.
    • Polleck, J. (2016). Breaking barriers in the classroom: Exploring LGBTQ issues through Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. In A. Butler-Wall, K. Cosier, R. Harper, J. Sapp, J. Sokolower, & M.B. Tempel (Eds), Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality (pp. 243-253). Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.
    • Polleck, J. (2016). Bring texts to life: Using afterschool book clubs as a way to address and reinforce the common core standards for literacy with urban adolescents. In J. Hayn, J. Kaplan, & A. Nolen (Eds), Implementing Common Core Literacy Standards through Young Adult Literature (pp. 97-113). London, UK: Roman & Littlefield.
    • Polleck, J. & Epstein, T. (2015). Affirmation, Analysis, and Agency: Book Clubs as Spaces for Critical Conversations with Young Adolescent Women of Color. Reading Horizons, 54(1), 78-107.