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Kremen School of Education and Human Development

Monica T. Billen

Associate Professor

Literacy, Early, Bilingual and Special Education

mbillen@mail.fresnostate.edu

Education

The University of Tennessee

Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy in Education, 2014
Concentration:
Literacy Studies
Emphasis:
Reading Education
Cognate:
Educational Psychology
Certificates:
Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement
Qualitative Research Methods in Education
Dissertation:
#learningtoteach: Using instagram to elicit preservice teacher reflection
America Association of Colleges of Teacher Education Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2015

Courses Taught

  • Literacy Early Education 158, 159, 166
    • Literacy, Language, and Culture through Inquiry
  • Literacy Early Education 166 
    • Disciplinary Literacy
  • Literacy Early Education 241
    • Fieldwork in Early Childhood Education
  • Literacy Early Education 158
    • Literacy Foundations K-8 
  • Literacy Early Education 177
    • Teaching Reading and the Arts in K-3
  • Literacy Early Education 232
    • Literacy in Early Childhood Education
  • Education Human Development 178
    • Fieldwork Supervision 
  • Literacy Early Education 298b
    • Master’s Project

Monica T. Billen is a teacher, researcher, and a teacher educator in the Kremen School of Education at California State University, Fresno. Her practical experience includes teaching elementary school, tutoring young children, mentoring student teachers, and educating in-service teachers.  Her current research focuses on incorporating student’s funds of knowledge in literacy instruction.  She is passionate about encouraging students to love reading and literacy. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a master’s degree in teacher education, and obtained a Ph.D. from The University of Tennessee in Education with an emphasis in Literacy, where she won the AACTE 2015 national Outstanding Dissertation Award. 

Billen, M. T., Ward, N., DeHart, J., Yang, S., Moran, R., (2021) Flipping the script of “official knowledge” through multimodal composition. Kappa Delta Pi Record

Morrison, T. G., Wilcox, B., McDonald, A., Billen, M. T., (2021) Improving children’s reading comprehension by teaching inferences.  Reading Psychology.

Billen, M. T., Soltero-Lopez, A., Hart, S. M., Wahleithner, J., Horsley, H., Alamillo, L. (2021).  If we want culturally sustaining teachers, we must be culturally sustaining teacher educators: Modeling culturally sustaining pedagogy in a teacher education residency program. In S. L. Hartman & S. R. Helfrich (Eds.), Exemplary Clinical Models of Teacher Education. Information Age Publishing.

Billen, M. T., Ward, N., DeHart, J., Yang, S., Moran, R., (2021). StoryVisualizer by LEGO Education: Using Digital Storytelling to Integrate STEM and Literacy. In L. Haas & J. Tussey (Eds.) Connecting Disciplinary Literacy and Digital Storytelling in K-12 Education. IGI Global.

Billen, M, T. (2020). #learningtoreflect: Preservice teachers’ reflections on Instagram. Educational Renaissance 9(1).

Maguet, M. L., Morrison, T. G., Wilcox, B., Nixon, R. S., & Billen, M. T. (2020). Identifying Elements of Voice in First-grade Science Writing. Reading Psychology, 1-18.

Billen, M. T. (2019).  Interest and Inquiry: Using self-selected topics to encourage student inquiry. Tennessee Literacy Journal, 1(1).  

Moran, R., Keith, K., & Billen, M. (2016). Teaching toward social justice using text sets as mirrors and windows for local, national, and global issues. In L. Nganga & J. Kambutu, Social Justice Education, Globalization, and Teacher Education. Information Age Publishing, 95-122.

Allington, R. L., Billen, M. & McCuiston, K. (2015). The potential impact of the Common Core State Standards on reading volume. In P.D. Pearson and E. H. Hiebert (Eds). Research Based Practices for Teaching Common Core Literacy. Teachers College Press.

Allington, R. L., Billen, M. T., & McCuiston, K. (2015). What research says about text complexity and learning to read? The Reading Teacher (68)7, 491-501.

Moran, R. R. & Billen, M. T. (2014). The reciprocal relationship of reading and writing: A practical approach. Georgia Educational Research Association Journal. 

Billen, M. T. & Moran, R. (2014). Screencasts—The integration of reading, writing, and technology. In K. Pytash, R. Ferdig (Eds.), Best Practices in Literacy Technology, Solution Tree. 

Moran, R. R. & Billen, M. T. (2013). Poetry: A remedy in the quest for fluency. Louisiana Reading Association Journal. 

Billen, M. T. & Allington, R. L. (2013) An evidence-based approach to response to intervention. In D. M. Barone & M. H. (Eds.), Best Practices in Early Literacy.

Gabriel, R., Allington, R. L., & Billen, M. (2012). Middle schoolers and magazines:  What teachers can learn from students' leisure reading habits. Clearinghouse, 85(5), 186-191.

Gabriel, R., Allington, R. L., & Billen, M. (2012). Background knowledge and the magazine reading students choose. Voices from the Middle, 20(1), 52-57.

Simmerman, S., Harward, S., Pierce, L., Peterson, N., Morrison, T., Korth, B., Billen, M., & Shumway, L. (2012). Elementary teachers' perceptions of process writing. Literacy Research and Instruction, 51, 1-16. 

Wilcox, B., Morrison, T.G., & Billen, M. T. (2011).  Fifty years of literacy research and instruction:  1861-2011.  Literacy Research and Instruction 50(4), 313-326.

Billen, M. T., Wilcox, B., Bahr, D., Shumway, J., Korth, B., Yates, E., & Morrison, T. G. (2011).  Instruction and physical environments that support writing instruction.  ALER Yearbook.