The Department of Curriculum and Instruction would like to congratulate Ph.D. candidate, Madeleine Israelson on recently receiving two fellowships, the Hawn Fellowship for the study of elementary education and the Potts Fellowship for the study of literacy and reading education. Israelson’s research interests include urban reading teacher preparation, digital literacies, and parental engagement in literacy learning.
Israelson received her undergraduate degree at Macalester College in St. Paul. After working for a year at a women’s shelter, Israelson enrolled in the C&I post baccalaureate program for elementary education and earned her teaching license in 2005.
“I had a fantastic experience in my C&I teacher preparation! I started teaching at Sojourner Truth Academy, a charter school in north Minneapolis. I taught fourth grade there for five wonderful years,” says Israelson. “I had an interest in continuing my education, possibly pursuing a doctorate. I enrolled in the five-course reading specialist licensure program and earned my reading license while I was teaching. It was a great opportunity to learn from University of Minnesota faculty at the forefront of literacy research and to be able to take that learning back to my own classroom.”
Soon after, Israelson applied to the doctoral program and was accepted. Over the last two years, Israelson has particularly enjoyed teaching CI 5413 (Foundations of Reading), supervising practicum students, and serving as a research assistant to the C&I Graduate Programs and Scholarship Strategy Committee.