Pratt Institute

Education

Ph.D student, New York University, Teaching and Learning, Research focus: literacy and language use in urban classrooms, current
MA, English Education, New York University, May 1999

Biography

Tonya Leslie is a doctoral candidate at New York University. Her research is around literacy and resilience in urban schools. Tonya is also a research associate at the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education where she works supporting school reform efforts nationally.  Tonya obtained her MA at New York University in English Education and runs an educational content development business, which has included clients like the New York Public Library Schomburg Center, Scholastic, PBS and The New York Historical Society among others.Tonya has published extensively including scholarly articles and children’s books.  

PRESENTATIONS

2011   Shaping a Discourse: A Historical Look at Children’s Literature, Athens Institute for Education and Research, Athens, Greece

2011   Exploring the Achievement Gap, Presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA

2010   The African American Presence in Early Historical Classroom Texts, Presented at the biennial First World Diaspora Conference, New Paltz, NY

2005   Teen Girls and Self Esteem inthe US , Presented at the annual Consortium of Philosophers,  Havana Cuba

2005   How Girls’ Needs Should Shape Program Development. Presented at the Ophelia Project Conference, Tampa, Florida 

PUBLICATIONS

Thomas Jefferson: A Life of Patriotism (Bellwether Media, 2007)

Rosa Parks: A Life of Courage (Bellwether Media, 2007)

Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life of Fairness (Bellwether Media, 2007)

Abraham Lincoln: A Life of Honesty (Bellwether Media, 2007)

True You: Truths About Growing Up (Dove, 2006)

South Africa World Tour (Raintree Publishers 2004)

Braids For Naya (Rigby 1999)

Freeze Tag (Rigby 1999)

Style Hall of fame: 23 Innovations Changing the Fashion World (Ebony Magazine, 2007)

Spring Break Jungle Escape (Leader, Magazine 2006)

Risky Behavior: Can it Be Good? (Leader Magazine, 2005)

SELECTED PROJECTS

2005   Gold Lamp Ed Press Award for Distinguished Marketing Material, Teen Girls and Self Esteem Facilitator Toolkit

2002   Fulbright Hayes Fellow, Bluefields, Nicaragua The African Experience in the Americas