Melissa Parenti
Associate Teaching Professor
- Email: [email protected]
About
Melissa A. Parenti, Ed.D. is an associate teaching professor in the Graduate School of Education. She joined Northeastern in 2016. Her areas of expertise include action research, teacher preparation, instructional coaching, and literacy development.
Prior to entering higher education in 2011, Dr. Parenti served for 15 years as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, and consultant in K-12 school systems in the urban communities of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. Her most recent publications appear in the Action Research Journal, Intervention School and Clinic, and The Reading Teacher. She has also served as lead author on a book, Growing the Vocabulary of English Language Learners: A Starter Kit for Classroom Teachers. She received three Excellence in Teaching awards at Northeastern and at St. John’s University.
Dr. Parenti is an Associate Editor at the Action Research Journal and currently sits on the editorial review boards for The Reading Teacher and Kappa Delta Pi Record and on the advisory board for SXSW EDU. At Northeastern, she also serves on the Faculty Academic Council for the College of Professional Studies and as Chair of the Faculty Development and Support Committee.
Dr. Parenti’s research centers on improving equity and the quality of instruction in all classrooms — from high-need, low-resource K-12 schools to university settings.