Reka C. Barton, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Maryland. Dr. Barton is an educator, curator and craftivist that researches multimodality, multilingualism and multiliteracies in and with communities of Black and Brown women and children in hopes of socially just and more equitable realities. Dr. Barton embeds these approaches in her teaching and service as well. She is a former elementary school teacher, with the majority of her classroom teaching career spent in dual language and urban classrooms. In addition to her classroom experience, she also has expertise in curriculum design, professional development for teachers, and literacy and biliteracy coaching. Dr. Barton teaches courses in children's literature and literacy methods. Her recent publications can be found in Children's Literature in Education, Journal of Language and Literacy Education, and Departures in Critical Qualitative Research.

Alfaro, C & Barton, R. C. (2025). University seal of biliteracy and cultural competence at a Hispanic serving institution: Deepening cultural and linguistic capital. In Davin, K. J., & Heineke, A. J. The Seal of Biliteracy in higher education: Harnessing students’ cultural and linguistic strengths at colleges and universities. Routledge. 

González, V.,  Soto-Peña, M., Barton, R. C., & Palmieri, A. (2024). (De)constructing and (re)constructing sociocultural competence: Towards a (re)rooted vision. In Freire, J. A., Alfaro, C., de Jong, E. Handbook of Dual Language Bilingual Education.  https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003269076

Alfaro, C., Barton, R., Castro, A., Perez, L., & Gustafson-Corea, J. (2023). University seal biliteracy &

cultural competence handbook (1st ed.). San Diego State University. https://www.sdsu.edu/international-affairs/events-and-initiatives/biliteracy-seal 

Barton, R. C. & Gonzalez, V. (2023). Los babies are bilingüe: Intersections of race, ethnicity, language, and age in baby books. Children’s Literature in Education. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10583-023-09547-7 

Barton, R. & Cappello, M. (2023). Visualizing hope through Black children’s multimodal messages reflecting the multiple pandemics. Departures in Critical Qualitative Research Journal, 12(2), 54-72. https://doi.org/10.1525/dcqr.2023.12.2.54

Barton, R. C. (2023) Beyond the label: Multimodal strategies for working with multilingual learners, The Montana English Journal 2017:1. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/mej/vol44/iss2023/2/

Turner, J. D., Wiseman, A. M., Coles, J., Jones, S. P., Cappello, M., Barton, R. Griffin, A.A., Rusoja, A., & Zapata, A. (2023). Mapping our truths: Envisioning the future of multimodal research for racial justice. Research in the Teaching of English, 57(3), 294-305. https://doi.org/10.58680/rte202332356

Alfaro, C., Barton, R., & Castro, A. (2022). Lengthening the language line: University global seal of

biliteracy. Multilingual Educator, Spring, 15–19. https://www.gocabe.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/ME-2022-Revised.pdf 

Barton, R., Blevins, D. & Cappello, M. (2022). The Elevation of Black Girl’s Hair: An Analysis of Visual Representations in Children’s Picturebooks. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984221093243

Sciurba, K., Hernandez, S., & Barton, R. C. (2021). Humanizing the Journey Across the Mexico-U.S. Border: Multimodal Analysis of Children’s Picture Books and the Restorying of Latinx (Im)migration. Journal of Children’s Education. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10583-020-09420-x

TLPL 652 Multicultural Materials in PK12 Instruction

TLPL 361 Principles and Methods of Teaching: Community, Learners & Engagement

TLPL 791 Introduction to Qualitative Research: Design & Fieldwork