Picture of Dr. Jeanne Paratore
Title
Dr.
First Name
Jeanne
Last Name
Paratore
Bio

Jeanne R. Paratore is Professor Emerita, Literacy Education, at Boston University Wheelock College of Education where, for over 30 years, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in literacy instruction and assessment and directed the campus-based Reading and Writing Clinic serving school-aged students who experienced difficulty learning to read and write. In 1989, she founded the Boston University/Chelsea Intergenerational Literacy Program (ILP), a program designed to support English literacy and language development among immigrant parents and to help them to support their children’s success in American schools. With Dr. Krol-Sinclair as its director, she oversaw this program for over 30 years.  Now in its 34th year, the ILP continues to serve Chelsea families.  Dr. Paratore is a former classroom teacher, reading specialist, and Title I director. She has been principal investigator on several funded studies of family literacy and home/school partnerships, including a ten-year funded project exploring effects of integrating PBS Kids programming with sound instructional practices on development of early literacy and early science knowledge. She has published widely on issues related to family literacy, classroom grouping practices, interventions for struggling readers, literacy coaching, and most recently, the affordances of integrating digital media with classroom instructional routines. She has been a frequent speaker and professional development leader locally, nationally, and internationally. She has served as co-curriculum director of the award-winning children’s television series, Between the Lions. She is one of only 100 world-wide, elected members of the Reading Hall of Fame; a recipient of the New England Reading Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award; and the Ida M. Johnson Award honoring distinguished alumni of Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education. Although she has retired from BU, she has not left teaching behind—she currently tutors a student diagnosed with multiple special needs—helping him to close a two-year reading achievement gap after 8 months of tutoring!