Vanessa Villatoro
Research Assistant
Vanessa Villatoro recently graduated from Montgomery College and has an associates degree in Secondary Education. Vanessa plans on continuing their education and enrolling at the University of Maryland for a bachelors degree. Vanessa joined Project CLIMB in the fall of 2022 as a bilingual assessor. Vanessa continued to work by helping with the behind the scenes along side the data team. Vanessa has also worked closely with the project manager on the forefront of the project. As a future educator, Vanessa has learned so much since joining the team and is excited for the more opportunities it brings.
Angeliki Altani
Post Doctoral Associate
Angeliki Altani holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and has a complementary background in Cognitive Science and Linguistics. Her research centers on the cognitive processes underlying reading development across languages, aiming to understand the mechanisms involved in reading fluency and their relation to reading comprehension. She is also interested in the role of executive functions in the development of skilled reading. Angeliki has extensive experience in conducting school-based research, using eye-tracking and experimental behavioral design.
Sophia Waltz
Coordinator
Sophia Waltz graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Special Education in the Spring of 2023. She has experience teaching in a variety of classroom settings, but is specializing in teaching students with moderate to profound disabilities. This is her first experience working in research, and she is assisting with data organization. Sophia is completing a masters in Special Education in the 2023-2024 school year.
Data Manager
Abhijith Reddy is a graduate student at College of Information Studies, University of Maryland pursuing Master of Information Management and holds a B.E in Information Technology from Osmania University, India. Abhijith has worked as a Software Engineer, Data and Business Intelligence for Optum, UnitedHealth Group for 2 years before joining the University of Maryland. Abhijith aims to work on contemporary challenges in building applications to leverage data at scale. He loves coding, sports and cooking.
READ Lab Manager
Yasmine Kamel recently graduated from University of Maryland with an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, as well as a Reading Specialist Certification, and holds a BS in Early Childhood Education from Towson University. Yasmine has experience as a classroom teacher for children in Kindergarten through Second Grade. She strives to be more involved in the Education field and make an impact on our future learners.
Faculty Specialist
Michelle Mosher serves as Faculty Specialist in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education. She holds an M.Ed. in Montessori Education from Loyola University, Baltimore, and a BA in Sociology from Wheaton College in Norton, MA. Michelle has experience as a Montessori teacher with children ages 2 ½ – 6 in both public and private schools. Additionally, she has worked as a nonprofit arts administrator for a small community-based arts organization that provides arts education to diverse audiences of all ages. Michelle is excited to be part of the READ lab and to learn more about Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs and their benefits to children.
Faculty Specialist
Graduate Asssistant
Francisca Vizcaya-Jofre is an elementary school teacher from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with a specialization in Language and in Mathematics. Currently, she is in her fourth semester of MA in Language, Literacy, and Social Inquiry at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her professional experiences consist of teaching in Chilean classrooms from third to sixth grades, collaborating in the elaboration of pedagogical resources in publishing companies, and as a teaching and research assistant. She is interested in language and literacy impact across the curriculum, and in education for sustainable development and local/global citizenship. In her free time, Francisca enjoys assembling puzzles, watching series, drawing, and spending time with friends and family.
Victor Landaeta-Torres holds a B.Sc. in Physics from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Social Complexity at Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile. He has worked in High school classrooms as a teacher in Math and Physics, has interest in experimental economics, cooperative behavior, educational psychology (particularly in bullying and aggressive behavior in the classroom) and applied coding and data analysis and visualization.
Weimeng Wang is a PhD candidate in the measurement, statistics and evaluation program at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her dissertation investigates the statistical inference using LASSO penalty to detect differential item functioning. She is passionate about fairness and equity in measurement and assessment. Her research interests include latent variable modeling, item response theory, psychometrics, patient reported outcome, and differential item functioning. In her free time, Weimeng enjoys cooking, drawing, rock climbing, boxing, running and weight lifting.
LEARN Project Coordinator
Data Coordinator
Ph.D.(c) in Education Policy & Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park.