The University of Maryland College of Education welcomes nine new faculty members for the 2024-25 academic year.
“We are excited to welcome these accomplished scholars to our college,” said Dean Kimberly Griffin. “Each brings unique experiences and expertise that will enhance our community and strengthen our commitment to academic excellence, research innovation and student success.”
Meet the college’s newest faculty members:
Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education (CHSE)
Ileana Gonzalez Ph.D. ’13, Assistant Clinical Professor
Research Focus: Multicultural and antiracist counselor education, cultural competence in counseling, and social justice action in urban school and in higher education settings.
Biography: Ileana Gonzalez previously served as an assistant professor at John Hopkins University. Prior to her career in higher education, she gained extensive experience in the field of K-12 education as a teacher and school counselor working primarily with Caribbean populations in South Florida. Her identity as a first-generation college student and daughter of refugees informs her beliefs in equity and access to a quality education for all students. She has published and presented nationally on social justice action in schools and in higher education settings, and on multicultural competence and antiracist training for counselors. Gonzalez earned her Ph.D. in counselor education from the University of Maryland and her Ed.S., M.A. and B.A. from the University of Florida.
Carlton E. Green, Assistant Clinical Professor and Co-Director of Intergroup Dialogue Training Center
Research Focus: Race and racial factors related to mental health training and supervision, belonging in the college classroom and mindfulness-based interventions.
Biography: For over 30 years, Carlton E. Green has held various roles across higher education, working in areas such as student services, multicultural services, residence life, academic affairs, athletics and counseling in both public and private institutions. A licensed psychologist, trainer, facilitator, speaker and consultant, Green is dedicated to engaging people in identity-based conversations that foster liberation. From 2018 to 2021, he served as director of diversity training and education in the university’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion, and prior to that, he was a staff psychologist in the Counseling Center, providing psychotherapy, consultation, outreach and training. Green earned his Ph.D. in counseling psychology and completed masters-level training in mental health counseling and pastoral ministry from Boston College. He received his B.A. in history and ethnic studies from Southern Methodist University.
Todd Honeycutt, Research Professor
Research Focus: Policies and programs that promote outcomes for youth with disabilities.
Biography: For more than 20 years, Todd Honeycutt has researched topics such as public disability benefits, vocational rehabilitation programs, interagency collaborations, and the transition from youth to young adulthood for state vocational rehabilitation agencies and federal entities, including the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor and the Social Security Administration. He previously served as principal researcher for Mathematica, where he most recently led a complex, multisite evaluation of projects that encouraged competitive integrated employment for people working in or contemplating subminimum wage employment. Honeycutt earned a Ph.D. in public health from Rutgers University, an M.A. in counselor education from the University of New Mexico and a B.A. in psychology from Texas A&M University.
Jennifer McCatharn Ph.D. ’21, Assistant Clinical Professor
Research Focus: Social-emotional learning, evidence-based literacy practices, culturally responsive bibliotherapy, and teacher emotional intelligence and well-being.
Biography: Jennifer McCatharn previously served as senior manager of social-emotional learning (SEL) at Rocketship Public Schools, where she managed SEL practices and curriculum for a network of schools located across the U.S. She created the Shortest Distance Curriculum, an innovative SEL program using children’s literature to facilitate bibliotherapy, perspective-taking and social skills development. Her experience also includes teaching elementary school, and she was a founding staff member at two charter schools and one private school in Washington, D.C. McCatharn was also a founding cohort member of the City Teaching Alliance. McCatharn earned her Ph.D. in special education from the University of Maryland, an M.Ed. in prevention science and practice from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, M.Ed.s in elementary and special education from Lesley University and a B.B.A. in marketing and business honors from Texas A&M University.
Tania D. Mitchell, Professor and Associate Provost for Community Engagement
Research Focus: The experiences of minoritized students in higher education, and service-learning and community engagement as critical practices to explore civic identity, social justice, leadership, student learning and development, race and racism, and community practice.
Biography: As UMD’s inaugural associate provost for community engagement, Tania D. Mitchell’s primary role focuses on building, strengthening and amplifying the university’s community-facing initiatives. As a scholar, she interrogates practices in higher education that aim to contribute to a more just world. Her work has been published in numerous books and journals, and she is the editor of four books, including “Black Women and Social Justice Education: Legacies and Lessons” (SUNY Press, 2019). Previously, Mitchell was a professor and chair of the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota. Mitchell holds an Ed.D. from the University of Massachusetts, an MSEd from Indiana University and a B.A. from Baylor University.
Jazmin Pichardo M.Ed. ’16 (she/her/ella), Visiting Faculty Specialist and Director of the Intergroup Dialogue Training Center
Research Focus: Critical pedagogy, intergroup dialogue and critical diversity studies.
Biography: Jazmin Pichardo is a critical pedagogue with over a decade of experience in facilitation, intergroup dialogue, training and program development. Her work emphasizes creating spaces for healing and transformation that enhance participants' capacity to interrupt and address inequities in their communities and institutions. Previously, Pichardo served as the assistant director of diversity training and education in the university’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion, where she oversaw the Words of Engagement Intergroup Dialogue Program. She is currently enrolled in the College of Education’s doctoral program in higher education policy. Pichardo received her M.Ed. from the University of Maryland and B.A. from Vassar College.
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology (HDQM)
Jimena Cosso, Assistant Professor
Research Focus: Learning factors that affect Latine dual language learners’ school readiness skills, and improving current measures that are not culturally sensitive but are commonly used to make instructional decisions.
Biography: Jimena Cosso joins the College of Education from the Pennsylvania State University, where she served as an assistant professor in educational psychology. Originally from Argentina, Cosso is passionate about addressing the educational challenges faced by Latine families. Her research focuses on how these communities, despite their significant linguistic and cultural assets, often encounter structural inequalities in education, such as curriculum design and assessment practices that do not reflect their cultural and linguistic resources. She is particularly interested in exploring how these issues contribute to the perceived underperformance of Latine dual language learners in subjects like mathematics, which is often due to limitations in measurement practices. Cosso earned her Ph.D. in educational psychology and research methodology from Purdue University, M.A. in international education from New York University and B.S. in sociology from Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina.
Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership (TLPL)
Kerry H. Alexander, Assistant Professor
Research Focus: Community-centered inquiry and responsive instructional design, elementary writing practice and pedagogy, justice-focused coaching and teacher learning, and sociocultural and material dimensions of literacy theory.
Biography: Kerry Alexander’s research examines how and where knowledge(s) around equity, literacy and policy are produced, and how these knowledge(s) influence teachers’ decision-making, specific to children’s material and intellectual activity during literacy instruction. These questions, which draw from her 10 years of experience as an elementary literacy teacher, reflect a deep commitment to putting young learners’ language and literacy experiences at the center of assessment and curricular design. She has published with Harvard Education Press, NCTE’s English Education journal, Literacy Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, the Journal of Language and Literacy Education (JoLLE), and the Texas Education Review. Alexander received her Ph.D., M.Ed. and B.S. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Texas at Austin.
Reka Barton, Assistant Professor
Research Focus: Multilingualism, multimodality and multiliteracies in and with communities of Black and Brown women and children.
Biography: An educator, curator and craftivist, Reka Barton joins the College of Education from the University of San Diego where she served as a postdoctoral faculty fellow. Her research focus–multilingualism, multimodality, and multiliteracies–is motivated by her hopes of socially just and more equitable realities. 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 has expertise in curriculum design, professional development for teachers, and literacy and biliteracy coaching. 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. Barton holds a Ph.D. from San Diego State University and an M.A. and B.A. from the University of Virginia.
