Areas of expertise:
- PK-12 language and literacy development, multilingual learners
- Teacher preparation and professional learning
- Qualitative research and mixed methodologies
- Outdoor education
Anna is an educational researcher and evaluator who specializes in mixed methodologies, design-based research, and qualitative analysis. She started her career as a literacy specialist, teaching preK through graduate students. Prior to Rockman, she worked at the Minnesota Center for Reading Research. Sample past projects include a multi-year design-based study of multi-tiered systems of support for middle school readers, an examination of translanguaging in children’s self-authored texts, and an exploration of the effects of outdoor science lessons on young students’ writing. She is a member of the Literacy Research Association, the North American Association for Environmental Education, and the Natural Start Alliance, presenting at their annual conferences among others. She is passionate about bringing rigorous evidence to bear on education programs so that they may best support whole-child development, especially for emergent multilingual children or those from households with lower incomes. She has degrees in Sociology (B.A.), Elementary Education (B.A.), Education Policy (M.A.), and most recently completed a Ph.D. in Literacy Education at the University of Minnesota. After work hours you can find her paddling and pedaling, skiing and sliding through all of Minnesota’s glorious seasons.
