Meet the Team

Dr. Carol Scheffner Hammer is Vice Dean of Research and Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the Department of Biobehavioral Sciences at Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Hammer worked as a speech-language pathologist, specializing in serving children ages 0-5, and their families from diverse backgrounds. Dr. Hammer’s research focuses on cultural and environmental influences on young children’s language and literacy development, the creation of language and literacy assessments, and the development and evaluation of home-and school-based interventions that promote preschoolers’ school readiness, with an emphasis on Latino dual language learners. Her work has been continually funded since 2000 by federal agencies, including: the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health; the Institute of Education Sciences and Investing in Innovation, U.S. Department of Education; and the Administration for Families and Children. Dr. Hammer is a past editor of the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

Dr. Barbara A. Wasik is a PNC Endowed Chair in early childhood education in the Teaching and Learning Department in the College of Education and Human Development at Temple University. Her area of research is early language and literacy interventions for children who are at-risk for school failure. Her work has focused mostly on children in poverty with the goal of trying to help close the achievement gap with successful interventions. Dr. Wasik has also been a literacy coach and worked closely with teachers to train them to implement research-based practices in their classrooms. Over her career she has worked with teachers in a variety of settings including public schools, Head Start and childcares. She has trained public school teachers and Head Start teachers. At Temple University, she also teaches preservice teachers. Dr. Wasik has co-authored two early childhood books: Early Education: Three-, Four-, and Five-Year-Olds Go to School (with Dr. Carol Seefeldt) and Language and Literacy Development: What Educators Need to Know (with Dr. James Byrnes).

Kate Anderson, M.A., is the Master Coach at ExCELL at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Education. Her work focuses on training and coaching early education teachers on language and literacy strategies to support children’s vocabulary and language development. Kate has 10 years of coaching experience. She has trained early childhood teachers through both remote coaching and in-person professional development sessions. When she is not coaching teachers, Kate enjoys running and spending time with her dog, Alex (whom you may get the pleasure to meet via Zoom!)

Dr. Annemarie Hindman is a Professor of Early Childhood Education and Educational Psychology at Temple University, and she is affiliated through a courtesy appointment with the Department of Psychology.  She coordinates the Early and Elementary Teacher Education program (PreK-4th grade certification) at Temple, and she is the director of the Center for Assessment, Evaluation, and Education Policy Analysis. She has authored more than 75 publications and has served as PI or Co-PI on more than $10 million dollars in grant-funded projects. Dr. Hindman studies how young children build foundational skills, including language, literacy, and social competence, throughout the first years of life and the transition to formal schooling. Much of her work focuses on communities in economic poverty with highly ethnically and linguistically diverse populations. Her work is characterized by three strands: professional development interventions for pre- and in-service teachers; classroom-aligned family interventions; and program evaluation for education-focused, community-based organizations serving children, families, and educators in high-need communities. Dr. Hindman earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University, as well as a master’s degree in developmental psychology and a Ph.D. in education and psychology from the University of Michigan.

Mary Alice Bond, M.Ed., is a Sr. Instructional Facilitator and a language and literacy coach for the Early Learning Program at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Education. She has more than 30 years of experience teaching and developing curricula for young children and their teachers. She began her career in ECED as a preschool teacher in the Baltimore City Public School system. Over the years she has been developing and training language and literacy preschool programs that have been used throughout the country, most recently in Baltimore City and Philadelphia.