Cristina Gillanders

Cristina Gillanders, PhD is an Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education at the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research focuses on the development and learning of dual language learners, emergent literacy, minority parents’ beliefs and practices, and home-school partnerships. She served as a Co-PI in the Nuestros Niños School Readiness Professional Development Program (funded by NICHD), an experimental study that examined the efficacy of a professional development program aimed to promote language, literacy, and social-emotional development, and mathematics learning in prekindergarten Spanish-English dual language learners. She also has published several articles related to Latino and African American parents’ beliefs and practices related to preparing young children for school. She has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and received a service award from the NAEYC Latino Special Interest Group.