By Kyla Emme, College of Education intern

RICHLAND, Wash. 鈥� Sarah Newcomer, an assistant professor of literacy education at Washington State University Tri-Cities, recently earned a national award for her work to increase opportunity and equity in education.

The Concha Delgado Gaitan Early Career Presidential Fellowship is presented by the national Council of Anthropology and Education (CAE) to a maximum of eight recipients each year.

Newcomer鈥檚 recent publications include studies about using wordless books for immigrant students in the classroom and the transition to teaching 鈥渨orld鈥� languages rather than 鈥渇oreign鈥� languages.

鈥淢y research corresponds to CAE鈥檚 mission through examining practices supporting family engagement and school-community partnerships,鈥� she said, as well as promoting 鈥渞acial and social justice in all settings where learning takes place.鈥�

She completed a B.A. in Spanish at Northern Arizona University in 1995 and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction, language and literacy from Arizona State University in 2012. She teaches undergraduate courses at 黑料社 Tri-Cities that focus on literacy in students from fourth grade to middle school.