Faculty

Roberta Levitt

Associate Professor of Special Education and Literacy

B.S., University of BridgeportM.A., Hofstra UniversityP.D./Ph.D., Hofstra University

roberta.levitt@liu.edu

Description

Dr. Roberta Levitt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at LIU Post. Dr. Levitt has served as an Honors Program Thesis Advisor and committee member, as well as a Doctoral Dissertation Committee Chairperson and committee member. She has served on various University, Campus, and Department Committees. In addition to her university positions, Dr. Levitt is a literacy consultant for grade levels K-12 and a Professional Development Consultant.
Her past experience includes time as an NYU supervisor of student teachers, a Hofstra University reading clinician, a building reading specialist for grade levels 1-5, a district literacy staff development leader for grades K-12, a classroom teacher for grade levels 1-5 and a literacy evaluator/tutor for grade levels K-12.
Dr. Levitt has her permanent New York State teaching and reading certifications. She has addressed colleagues, parents, and administrators at many professional speaking engagements, including the Annual Northeastern Educational Research Association (NERA) Conference and the Annual New York State English Council (NYSEC) Conference. Dr. Levitt has had her works on literacy, motivational/instructional strategies and educational policies published not only in peer- refereed journal publications but also in the newsletters of professional organizations like New York State English Council (NYSEC) and Long Island Language Arts Council (LILAC). She also has served as a peer reviewer for several international journals and professional organizations, such as NERA and NYSEC. Currently, she is the Co-President of Phi Delta Kappa Chapter 1524, the local chapter of an International association for educators.  She has formerly served as Vice President of Membership and as an executive board member of the chapter. Dr. Levitt holds active membership in numerous professional organizations and is the University Representative for Nassau Reading Council. 

Specialties

Literacy Assessment, Remediation, Enrichment of Grade Levels K-12, Response to Intervention (RTI), Wilson Instruction, Reading and Writing Workshops, State Standards and Assessments

Publications

Levitt, R. (2017). Teachers left behind by Common Core and No Child Left Behind. Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table, 2017(2). 

Kramer-Vida, L., & Levitt, R. (2017). Organizationally sponsored professional development. The English Record, 67(2), 21-57. 

Levitt, R., & Piro, J. M. (2014). Game-Changer: Operationalizing the Common Core using the WebQuest and ‘Gamification’ in teacher education. International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies, 9(3), 53-71. 

Levitt, R., Kramer-Vida, L., Palumbo, A., & Kelly, S. P. (2014). Professional development: A skills approach to writing workshop. The New Educator, 10(3), 248-264. 

Levitt, R., & Red Owl, R. H. (2013). Effects of early literacy environments on the reading attitudes, behaviors, and values of veteran teachers. Learning Environments Research. 16(3), 387-409. 

Kramer-Vida, L., Levitt, R., & Kelly, S. (2012). Kindergarten is more than ready for the Common Core State Standards. Language Arts. 90(2), 93-109. 

Kramer-Vida, L., Levitt, R., & Kelly, S. (2012). University/school district collaboration changes a kindergarten program. Kappa Delta Pi Record. 48(4), 178-183. 

Levitt, R., & Piro, J. (2012). Time, space, and culture: Diversifying and globalizing “minds.” Journal of Curriculum and Instruction. 6(1), 55-72. 

Vacca, J., & Levitt, R. (2011). Using scaffolding techniques to teach a social studies lesson about civil war letters. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(18), 150-161. 

Palumbo, A., & Levitt, R. (2011). Equal knowledge is the strong root of democratic egalitarianism. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies Issues and Ideas, 84(5), 213-218. 

Levitt, R., & Kramer-Vida, L. (2011). Teaching artists: Serving special education students in local schools. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals (JAASEP), Winter 2011 edition. 

Kramer-Vida., L., Levitt, R, & Kelly, S. P. (2010). Special education and at-risk kindergarteners as authors. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals (JAASEP), Spring/Summer 2010 edition. 

Nathanson, S., Pruslow, J, & Levitt, R. (2008). The reading habits and literacy attitudes of inservice and prospective teachers: Results of a questionnaire survey. Journal of Teacher Education, 59(4), 313-321. 

Levitt, R. (2008). Freedom and empowerment: A transformative pedagogy of educational reform. Educational Studies, Special Issue: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Educational Reform Within a Foucaultian Framework, 44(1), 47-61. 

Levitt, R. (2007). A vision beyond no child left behind.  Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table, 3(1), 60-82. 

Lectures and Presentations

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMARTer Board Lessons for the Classroom - Part 2: Creating Lesson Plans Using Content From Websites and Integrating Word, PPt, PDF, 3D, and Voki With SMART Board: March 30, 2019.

Nassau Reading Council (NRC), February 7, 2019.  

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMARTer Board Lessons for the Classroom - Part 1: Using Interactive Basic SMART Board Tools: October 27, 2018.

New York State English Council (NYSEC), October 17-19, 2018, 68th Annual NYSEC Conference: ELA: English Language Artists.  

Nassau Reading Council (NRC), February 15, 2018.  

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: Beyond Basics With SMART Board: Create Lesson Plans for Diverse Learners Across Grades: February 10, 2018.

New York State English Council (NYSEC), October 25-27, 2017, 67th Annual NYSEC Conference: Developing the College/Career-Ready Citizen Through Language, Literacy and the Arts.  

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: Get Smart With SMART Board: The Basics of Creating Lesson Plans With SMART Notebook Tools: October 21, 2017.

International Round Table Symposium, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, England. Symposium on Critical Public Issues 7/19-7/22, 2017.

International Round Table Symposium, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, England. Symposium on Childhood Issues and Education 7/16-7/19, 2017.

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMART Board: Tips and Tricks for SMART Lessons: Workshop 2: February 11, 2017.

Nassau Reading Council (NRC), February 2, 2017.  

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: Literacy and Learning on the ALST, Saturday, October 22, 2016

New York State English Council (NYSEC), October 19-21, 2016, 66th Annual NYSEC Conference: Literacy at the Intersection of Story and Information.  

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMART Board: Tips and Tricks for SMART Lessons: Workshop 1: September 24, 2016. 

International Literacy Association (ILA) Conference, July 11, 2016. Transforming Lives Through Literacy. 

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMARTer Lessons: A Digitalized Teaching: Workshop 1: Saturday, March 19, 2016.

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMARTer Lessons: A Digitalized Teaching: Workshop 2: February 28, 2016.

Nassau Reading Council (NRC), February 11, 2016.

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) 2015 Annual National Convention, November 21, 2015. 

New York State English Council (NYSEC), October 16, 2015, 65th Annual NYSEC Conference: Reading is the Core: Building Skill & Nurturing Will. 

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: So You Think You Know the SMART Board: Workshop 2: Beyond Basics, February 28, 2015.

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: So You Think You Know the SMART Board: Workshop 1: Basic Skills, January 31, 2015.

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: So You Think You Know the SMART Board: Workshop 2: Beyond Basics, October 25, 2014.

New York State English Council (NYSEC), 64th Annual Conference: Argue, Research, Analyze, and Create: Building Global Awareness in ELA, October 22 – 24, 2014.  

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: So You Think You Know the SMART Board: Workshop 1: Basic Skills, September 20, 2014.

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: Mapping Media to the Common Core for Students and Teachers: A Hands-on SMART Board Technology Workshop, March 22, 2014.

Suffolk County ASSET, March 10, 2014, Annual Conference 2014: Full STEAM Ahead! Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math. 

Long Island Language Arts Council (LILAC)/ Nassau Reading Council (NRC), March 7, 2014, Annual Spring Conference 2014: Critical Thinking for Critical Times. 

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Annual National Conference, November 23, 2013.  

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: Mapping Media to the Common Core: A Hands-on Technology Workshop for Students and Teachers, October 26, 2013. 

New York State English Council (NYSEC), October 16-18, 2013, 63rd Annual NYSEC Conference: All for One, One for All: Getting to the Core for the Uncommon Learner

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMART Board Technology and Integrated Program Tools, March 3, 2013

Long Island University Post 9th Annual Conference of Elementary-Secondary Teaching & Learning (CESTL), December 14, 2012.  

Reading Specialists Council of Suffolk (RSCS), November 29, 2012, Empowerment Through Literacy.

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMART Board Technology and Integrated Program Tools, October 25, 2012. 

New York State English Council (NYSEC), October 18, 2012, 62nd Annual NYSEC Conference: Teaching and Learning: The Center of the Common Core. 

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMART Board Technology and Integrated Program Tools, March 2, 2012.  

Long Island University Chapter 1524 of Phi Delta Kappa International Workshop: SMART Board Technology and Integrated Program Tools, October 29, 2011.  

New York State English Council (NYSEC), October 20, 2011, 61st Annual NYSEC Conference: 
Teaching Humanity: The Character Connection.  

Long Island University, C.W. Post, B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library Community Conversation: 9/11 The Aftermath, September 13, 2011.  

New York State English Council (NYSEC), October 21-23, 2010, 60th Annual NYSEC Conference: New Literacies for a New Age: Teaching with the Tools of Our Times 

New York State English Council (NYSEC) Conference, October 21 – 23, 2009 

Tilles Center Arts Education, January 8, 2009 Professional Development Seminar: “Strategies to Assist Teaching Artists Working with Special Needs Students.

Northeastern Educational Research (NERA), October 21-23, 2008, 39th Annual Conference: Strengthening Educational Research

Long Island University, C.W. Post School of Education, December 12, 2007, Research Forum

Northeastern Educational Research (NERA), October 18, 2007, 38th Annual Conference:  Making
Differences Through Educational Research:  Bridging Research & Practice

Long Island University, C.W. Post School of Education, November 1, 2006, Research Forum

Northeastern Educational Research (NERA), October 18, 2006, 37th Annual Conference  

Oxford Round Table, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, England, July 26, 2006.

Honors/Awards

Phi Delta Kappa International Distinguished Educator
2017 New York State English Council College Educator of Excellence Award
Phi Delta Kappa International Service Key Award

Affiliations