UMass Boston

Deaf Education, Bilingual Education, Early Childhood Education, Education of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

PhD, Curriculum and Instruction, Boston College

PsyS, School Psychology, Gallaudet University

MA, Developmental Psychology, Gallaudet University

Dr. Pizzo’s research includes the linguistically responsive education of bilingual and multilingual d/Deaf and hard of hearing children as well as culturally, linguistically, and developmentally responsive assessment practices for young children and their families.

Her work has been with both spoken language bilingual populations as well as American Sign Language (ASL)-English bilingual learners. Dr. Pizzo’s scholarship includes an emphasis on linguistically responsive assessment practices of teachers, ASL vocabulary instruction in ASL-English bilingual classrooms, and culturally and linguistically responsive assessment practices in early childhood settings. Her most recent work connects research on spoken language bilingualism and ASL-English bilingualism to address the needs of deaf ASL users who come from homes where a language other than English are present, or deaf multilingual learners (DMLs).

 

Courses Taught

Undergraduate courses

ECHD 422      Observing, Documenting, and Assessing in Early Childhood

ECHD 440      Language Development and Early Literacy in Early Childhood

ECHD 435      Family Systems, Support and Engagement

ECHD 290      Internship in Early Education and Care I

ECHD 492      Internship in Early Education and Care II

ECHD 497      Special Topics: Enhancing Child Development through Service Learning

ECHD 497      Special Topics:  Instructional Leadership and Quality Improvement in Early Care and Education

 

Graduate Courses

ECHD 706      Historical and Theoretical Foundations of Early Childhood Education and Care

ECHD 708      Research Team

ECHD 622      Observing, Documenting, and Assessing in Early Childhood

ECHD 640      Language Development and Early Literacy in Early Childhood

ECHD 690      Planning for Meaningful Early Childhood Curriculum and Pre-Practicum I

ECHD 685      Practicum II: Pre-K through Second Grade

ECHD 697      Special Topics:  Instructional Leadership and Quality Improvement in Early Care and Education

EDU 6426       Developmental Language, Literacy, and Writing: Assessment and Instruction

ED 621           Bilingualism, Second Language and Literacy Development

 

Selected Grants and Sponsored Research

Preschool Expansion Grant Instructional Leadership Series. 2017-2018

Co-Principal Investigator (Anne Douglass, Principal Investigator)

Funded: $115, 465.

 

Boston Teacher Quality Network. 2014-2019

Co-Principal Investigator (Lisa Gonsalves, Principal Investigator)

Funded $2,075,000

Sponsor: Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education

 

Understanding Fidelity of Implementation of Assessment in Massachusetts Early Intervention Programs to Support EI Providers and Families. 2014-2015

Co-Principal Investigator (Angela Stone-MacDonald, Principal Investigator)

Funded $9,787

Sponsor: Public Service Grant, University of Massachusetts Boston

 

Indicator 7 Process: Measuring Early Childhood Outcomes. 2013-2014

Co-Principal Investigator (Angela Stone-MacDonald, Principal Investigator, Angel Fettig, Co-Principal Investigator)

Funded $39,961

Sponsors: Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

 

Book

Stone-MacDonald, A., Pizzo, L., & Feldman, N. (2018). Fidelity of Implementation in Assessment of Infants and Toddlers. Springer Press.

 

Selected Scholarship

Pizzo, L. (2018). Vocabulary instruction for the development of American Sign Language in deaf children: An investigation into teacher knowledge and practice. Sign Language Studies. Accepted for Publication in Volume 18, Number 2.

 

Pizzo, L. & Páez, M. (2017). Early childhood education and care for young dual language learners. In E. Dearing & E. Votruba-Drzal (Eds.) Handbook of Early Childhood Development Programs, Practices, and Policies: Theoretically and Empirically-supported Strategies for Promoting Young Children’s Growth in the United. Wiley: Oxford, UK.

 

Pizzo, L. (2016a). d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Multilingual Learners (DMLs): The development of communication and language. American Annals of the Deaf, 161(1), 17-32.

 

Pizzo, L. (2016b). “It’s not about you, it’s about them”: Philosophy, evidence, and the role of language in adopting Reggio Emilia for young d/Deaf and hard of hearing learners. Journal of Education and Human Development, 5(2), 1-12.

 

Pizzo, L. & Chilvers, A. (2016). Assessment and d/Deaf Multilingual Learners: Considerations and promising practice. American Annals of the Deaf, 161(1), 56-66.

 

Howard, E., Páez, M., August, D., Aretagoitia, I., Pizzo, L., Green, J., Gonzalez, E., & Artzi, L. (2014). Effective vocabulary instruction for Spanish-speaking students. Journal of Bilingual Education Research & Instruction, 16(1), 1-16.

 

Páez, M., Bock, K., & Pizzo, L. (2011). Supporting the language and early literacy skills of English language learners: Effective practices and future directions. In S. Neuman & D. Dickenson (Eds.), Handbook of Early Literacy Research (Vol. 3, pp. 136-152). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

 

Pizzo, L. & Bruce, S. (2010). Language and Play in Students with Multiple Disabilities and Vision Loss or Deaf-Blindness. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 104(5), 287-297.

 

Selected Peer Reviewed Conference Presentations

Pizzo, L., Stone-MacDonald, A., Price, Z., & Lopes, A. (2018, April). Quality Assessments in Early Intervention Programs for Children and their Families. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.

 

Pizzo, L., Stone-MacDonald, A., & Feldman, N. (2018, March). Quality Early Intervention Assessments in Early Intervention Programs for Children and their Families. Poster accepted at the Conference on Innovations in Early Intervention, San Diego, CA.

 

Pizzo, L. & Peña, E. (2018, February). School-University Partnerships: Reflections on Building Collaborative Communities of Practice. Poster presented at the Association of College Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing conference, Tucson, AZ.

 

Pizzo, L., Stone-MacDonald, A., & Puri, S. (2018, February) Implementing Family Centered Assessments in Early Intervention Programs. Paper presented at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference, Tampa, Fl.

 

Pizzo, L., & Stone-MacDonald, A. (2017, April). Understanding Fidelity of Implementation of Assessment in Early Intervention Programs. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.

 

Pizzo, L., Puri, S., Stone-MacDonald, A., & Feldman, N. (2017, April). Understanding the Quality and Fidelity of Assessments used in Early Intervention to Determine Eligibility for Special Education: Implications for Teacher Education. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization, Portsmouth, NH.

 

Pizzo, L. (2017, February). Deaf Multilingual Learners: Exploring Linguistically Responsive Teacher Education. Paper presented at the Association of College Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing conference, San Antonio, TX.

 

Peña, E., Antonucci, R., Boucher, G., Drodowicz, S., Pizzo, L., & Solano-Campos, A. (2016, May). Equity in grading dual language learners: Promising practices. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages, Framingham, MA.

 

Solano-Campos, A. & Pizzo, L. (2016, May). Supporting the English language development of dual language learners: A school-university partnership. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization, Portsmouth, NH.

 

Pizzo, L., & Páez, M. (2016, April). Curriculum based vocabulary assessment for young bilingual students. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.

 

Cannon, J.E., Guardino, C., Pizzo, L., Bowen, S., Baker, S., Scott, J., Luckner, J., Andrews, J., and Wang, Q.  (February, 2016). How do we prepare qualified professionals to work with students with diverse needs? Part 2: A panel discussion of future directions when working with students who are Deaf and hard of hearing Multilingual Learners (DML). Symposium presented at the Association of College Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing conference, New York, NY.

 

Stone-MacDonald, A., Pizzo, L., & Feldman, N. (2016, February). Understanding fidelity of implementation of assessment in Early Intervention (EI) programs to support EI providers and families. Poster presented at the Conference on Innovations in Early Intervention, San Diego, CA.

 

Pizzo. L. (2015, May). Using Stimulated Recall Procedures for Early Childhood Education and Special Education Research: Exemplars from a Real-World Research Project. Paper accepted at the annual meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization, Portsmouth, NH.

 

Pizzo, L. (2015, April). Towards Adopting a Curriculum for Deaf Learners: Philosophy, Curricula, and the Role of Language and Culture. Paper accepted at the 2015 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, Il.

 

Pizzo, L. (2014, May). Using read-alouds to improve the vocabulary skills of young Spanish-speakers. Paper accepted at the 2014 annual meeting of the Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages, Framingham, MA.

 

Pizzo, L. (2014, April). Vocabulary Instruction for the Development of American Sign Language in Deaf Children: An Investigation into Teacher Knowledge and Practice. Paper presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA.

 

Pizzo, L. & Páez, M. (2012, April). Improving the language and literacy skills of bilingual kindergarteners: Implementation fidelity and sustainability of a research based vocabulary intervention program. Poster presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada.

 

Páez, M., Pizzo, L., Venkatesh, K., & Barr, C. (2012, April). Dual language intervention for improving the vocabulary skills of bilingual kindergarteners: A longitudinal study. Paper presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, Canada.

 

Pizzo, L. (2011, April). Discourse in early childhood signing classrooms for the deaf and hard of hearing: Promoting language and literacy development. Research presented at the annual meeting of the New England Educational Researcher Association, New Bedford, MA.

 

Pizzo, L., Dudley-Marling, A., & Páez, M. (2011, April). Vocabulary instruction for English language learners: Bridging home and school learning through an intervention program. Paper presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

 

Pizzo, L., & Páez, M. (2010, May). Improving the language and literacy skills of Spanish-English bilingual kindergarteners. In D. August (Chair), The Vocabulary Instruction and Assessment of Spanish Speakers Program of Research: Overview and Findings. Symposium conducted at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Denver, CO.

 

Pizzo, L. (2010, April). The Education of the Deaf: Human Rights, Pathology, and the Media. Research presented at the annual meeting of the New England Educational Researcher Association, Portsmouth, NH. 

 

Páez, M., Pizzo, L., & Bock, K. (2009, June). Vocabulary instruction through home-school connections: Findings from an intervention program for Spanish-English bilingual students. Paper presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for Scientific Study of Reading, Boston, MA.

 

Rinaldi, C., & Pizzo, L. (2009, February). RTI and school reform: Impacting ELL special education referrals. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, Boston, MA.

 

Pizzo, L. (2008, March). Signs of the times: Constructing knowledge in deaf education. In M. Cochran-Smith (Chair), Policing and Producing the Field: The Role of the Literature Review in Research. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization, Hyannis, MA.

 

Pizzo, L., Pike, J., & Rodriguez, M. (2007, March). Conditions that Support Communication Competency and Literacy in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students: A Practitioner’s Study. Paper presented at the annual convention of the California Association of School Psychologists, Los Angeles, CA.