Faculty Profile

• Ph.D. in Elementary Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.Dissertation Title: “Changes in Literacy Beliefs and Practices of a Kindergarten Teacher: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study.”
• Certificate in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• M.A. in Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• M.Phil. in Linguistics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Thesis Title: “Grammaticalization in Hindi”
• B.A. in English, Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.

• Associate Professor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University Delhi (2014-2017)
• Associate Professor, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, USA (2013-14)
• Assistant Professor, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, USA (2007-2013)

Dr. Sunita Singh is an Associate Professor at the School of Education Studies (SES), Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD). She completed her Ph.D. from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (Language and Literacy), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. Prior to joining AUD, she worked as an Associate Professor at Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York. She has also worked at the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED), AUD where she mentored a large number of projects funded by national and international agencies related to research and evaluation, capacity building and advocacy in areas related to early childhood care and education and language and literacy. In her research, she has worked extensively in schools, with teachers, families and in communities. Sunita has published chapters in books and articles in international journals. She has been on the editorial board and a panel reviewer for international journals. At SES, she teaches courses in language and literacy and early childhood curriculum.

Professional Memberships/Awards

• Council Member(March, 2020). General Body of the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), New Delhi.
• Member (2019).Standing Committee on Academics, National Council of Teacher Education, New Delhi.
• Member (2019), Working Group for Curriculum of Existing Teacher Education Programmes, National Council of Teacher Education, New Delhi.
• Member, Comparative Education Society of India.
• Member (2018-21). Advisory Committee, Centre for English Language Education, Ambedkar University Delhi.
• Member (2018-21). Board of Studies, School of Vocational Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi.
• Member (2018).Committee to prepare Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) guidelines for Pre-Primary teachers, National Council of Teacher Education, New Delhi.
• Member (2017-19). Advisory Committee, Early Literacy Initiative, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad.
• Member (2016-18). Programme Advisory Committee, District Institute of Education and Training, RK Puram, New Delhi.
• Member (2016-19). Advisory Committee, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University Delhi.
• Awarded the Henry Kahanee award for Outstanding Teaching Assistant in Hindi (2000) by the Department of Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Ranked as an Excellent Teaching Assistant (based on student evaluations) in Spring 1999, Fall 1999, Spring 2000, Spring 2001, Fall 2001, Spring 2002, Fall 2002, Spring 2003, Fall 2003, and Spring 2004 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Awarded the Government of India National Scholarship by the Director of Higher Education, Uttar Pradesh (1994).

• Singh, S. (2022). COVID-19 and early childhood care and education in India. In: Pattnaik, J., Renck Jalongo, M. (eds) The Impact of COVID-19 on Early Childhood Education and Care. Educating the Young Child, Vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96977-6_5

• Singh, S. Engaging young children with science concepts in a community-based book distribution and animal-themed literacy intervention program. Early Childhood Education Journal (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01335-0

• Singh, S. (2021). "Play and learning: blurring the boundaries." Learning Curve 10 (2021), 13-16. https://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/2915/

• Singh, S. (2021). Book Review of Shailaja Menon, Shuchi Sinha, Harshita Das and Akhila Paydah (Eds.), Early Literacy Initiative, Practitioner Brief Booklets and Resource Books. Contemporary Education Dialogue, 18(2), 238-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973184921100998

• Singh, S. (2019).Language literacy and bilingualism in the early years.In VenitaKaul and Suman Bhattarjea (Eds.) Early Childhood Education and School Readiness in India.Singapore: Springer. pp. 153-171.
• Singh, S. & Chaudhary, A. B. (2019). Situating teachers beliefs. In VenitaKaul and Suman Bhattarjea (Eds.) Early Childhood Education and School Readiness in India.Singapore: Springer. pp. 173-194.
• Singh, S. (2016).Literacy engagement in refugee families: Connecting practices across contexts. In Schmidt, P.S. & Lazar, A. (Eds.).Reconceptualizing literacy in the new age of multiculturalism and pluralism.Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. pp. 343-259.
• Singh, S., Sylvia, M. R., &Ridzi, F. (2015). Exploring the literacy practices of refugee families enrolled in a book distribution program and an intergenerational family literacy program. Early Childhood Education Journal, 43(1), 37-45. doi:10.1007/s10643-013-0627-0
• Jha, A. Kurian, A., Dogra, M., Varun, A., & Singh, S. (November 19-20, 2015). Early learning and development standards in India: The significance, process and challenges.Early Childhood Development Knowledge Series-II, Conference on 3rd International Conference on ECDEmerging World: Policies and Practice for ECDorganised by the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Research, JamiaMilliaIslamia. pp. 203-212.
• Ridzi, F., Sylvia, M. R., & Singh, S. (2014). The Imagination Library Program: Increasing parental reading through book distribution.Reading Psychology, 35(6), 548-576.doi: 10.1080/02702711.2013.790324
• Singh, S. (March 10-11, 2014). Second language and literacy in the Indian context.Education as a Right Across the Levels: Challenges, Opportunities and Strategies. International Education Conference, JamiaMilliaIslamiaand UNESCO, pp. 308-316
• Zisselsberger, M., Assaf, L., &Singh, S. (2012). Delving into third space: Supporting writing development in multilingual and multicultural settings.Writing and Pedagogy.4(1), 69-97. doi: 10.1558/wap.v4i1.69. ISSN No. 1756–5839 (print) 1756–5847 (online)
• Singh, S. (2012).Book Review.Reading difficulties and Dyslexia: An interpretation for teachers by J. P. Das (2009).New Delhi: Sage Publications.Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators 1(1) 67-69. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, New Delhi.
• Singh, S. (2012).The Standards Initiative.Voices of Teachers and Teacher Educators 1(2) 42-44. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, New Delhi.
• Singh, S. (2011).Working with diverse language speakers in an early childhood setting. In P. S. Schmidt & A. M. Lazar, (Eds.), Practicing what we teach: How culturally responsive literacy classrooms make a difference (pp. 156-167). NY: Teachers College Press. ISBN-10: 0807752207 | ISBN-13: 978-0807752203
• Schmidt, P. R. &Singh, S. (2011). Authentic professional development and assessment for language arts teachers capacity for change. In D. Lapp & D. Fisher, (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teaching the English Language Arts (3rd edition). (pp. 322-328). NY: Routledge. ISBN-10: 0415877369 | ISBN-13: 978-0415877367.
• Singh, S. (2010).Independent and collaborative writing in a kindergarten classroom.Journal of Reading Education.36(1). 48-53. ISSN: 0886-5701

• Singh, S. (December 13, 2019).Linkages between Early Childhood Education and Primary education.Paper presented at the panel discussion on ‘Foundation Stage as the First Stage of School Education:Opportunities and Challenges for Implementation’ in the seminar on Foundational Stage as the First Stage of School Educationorganised by the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development and ChildFund India, India International Centre, New Delhi, India.
• Kaur, S. & Singh, S. (December 9-11, 2019).Everyday engagement with ICT: Language and literacy learning. Paper presented at the 10th International CESI Conference titled,Exclusion, Inclusion and Equity in Educationorganised by the Comparative Education Society of India, Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies (ZHCES), JNU, India.
• Singh, S. (November 21-22, 2019). School Readiness. Paper presented at the conference on Early Childhood Care & Education: Principles & Practiceorganised by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad and Next Education, Taj Krishna, Hyderabad.
• Singh, S. (August 17-18, 2019). Panelist for the session “Innovations in Teacher Education: Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment” in the conference,Teacher Education Journey: Local to Global, organised by the National Council of Teacher Education, Manekshaw Auditorium, New Delhi.
• Singh, S. (February 21-22, 2018). Engaging children in collaborative writing in a kindergarten classroom. Paper presented at the National conference on Writing in school: Processes, Practices, and the Writerorganised by the Department of Education, University of Delhi.
• Singh, S. (November 21-22, 2017). Identities, schooling and community literacies. Paper presented at the “National Consultation Meet on Sustainability in Context of Early Childhood Education” organised by the National Council on Educational Research and Training, New Delhi.
• Singh, S.,& Menon, S. (December 14-15, 2017). Early language and literacy Position paper. Concept Note presented for the National Conference on Early Language and Literacy organized by the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University Delhi in collaboration with the Early Literacy Initiative, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad.
• Singh, S. (November 17-18, 2017). Examining the contexts of learning. Paper presented at the conference on Igniting young minds: State Level Dialogue on ECCE, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.
• Singh, S. (July 27-28, 2017). Child-friendly cities of tomorrow. Paper presented the International Conference on Future of Cities: Opportunities and Challengesorganised by Institute of Town Planners, VigyanBhawan, New Delhi, India.
• Singh, S. (February 7-8, 2017). Session Moderator for Panel Discussion on Early Childhood Learning, Indian Education Congress.JW Marriott, Aerocity, New Delhi.
• Singh, S.(November 18, 2016).Early Learning and Development Standards. Paper presented at the conference on Comprehensive early childhood care and development: Health care and learning. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
• Singh, S. (October 20-21,2016).Concept note. Paper presented at the National Conference on School Readiness: “Ensuring Foundation, Enhancing Learning organized by the Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University Delhi, UNICEF and CIFF, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
• Singh, S. (December 10-11, 2015). Paper presentation in sessionMother tongue based multi lingual early childhood education and development in the conference Invest in Young Children: A national conference on Mother tongue based multilingualearly education and developmentorganised by Bernard van Leer Foundation,Gopalpur on Sea, Odisha.
• Singh, S. (February 5, 2015). Language and literacy learning in the early years. Paper presented at the State Level Meeting on Enhancing Reading Competencies in Early Grade Learnersorganised by SCERT- Uttar Pradesh and Girls Education Program, CARE India.
• Singh, S., Ridzi, F. & Sylvia, M. (November 30-December 2, 2012). Engaging Refugee Families in Print Literacy Through Community Story Events. Paper presented the Literacy Research Association conference, San Diego, CA.
• Ridzi, F., Sylvia, M., & Singh, S. (July 26-29, 2012). Rural and urban community coalitions: how must strategy change with population density? Paper presented atThe 75th Annual Meeting Program of the Rural Sociological Society (presented by F.Ridzi).
• Singh, S., Ridzi, F. & Sylvia, M. (April 13-17, 2012). Creating hybrid spaces during story circles with refugee parents. Paper presented at the American Educational Research AssociationAnnual Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
• Sylvia, M., Ridzi, F., & Singh, S. (February 9-11, 2012). The Imagination Library: A book per month increases shared book-reading for minority children. Paper presented at the National Society for Research in Child Development Themed Meeting: Positive Development of Minority Children. Tampa, FL. (Presented by Monica Sylvia).
• Singh, S., Sylvia, M., and Ridzi, F. (October 23-25, 2011). Increasing parent engagement in literacy through community story. Paper presented at the New York State Reading Association 45th Annual Conference, Rye Brook, NY.
• Singh, S. (November 30-December 3, 2011). Problematizing second language and literacy from the Indian context. Paper presented at the Literacy Research Association Annual Conference, Jacksonville, FL.
• Singh, S. (April 3-5, 2011). Names as "Texts" for reading and writing instruction. Paper presented at the New York State Reading Association 44th Annual Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY.
• Singh, S & Schmidt, P. (April 30-May 4, 2010). Assessment of language arts teacher capacity: Transforming practice. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
• Singh, S. (March 7-9, 2010). Connecting collaborative writing to cultural landscapes in kindergarten. Paper presented at the New York State Reading Association. Saratoga Springs, NY.
• Singh, S. (December 1-5, 2009). Mediating collaborative writing in a multicultural and multilingual kindergarten classroom. Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, (symposium on “Mediated Writing Practices: Investigating Writing Instruction in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts” with M. Zisselsberger, L. Assaf and P. Schmidt) Albuquerque, NM.
• Singh, S. (November 13-14, 2009). Literacy instruction in a multilingual kindergarten. Paper presented at the 39th Annual New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Conference, White Plains, NY.
• Singh, S. (November 28-December 1, 2007) Influence of context on self-efficacy beliefs and literacy instruction. Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, Austin, TX. 2007.
• Singh, S. (April 9-13, 2007). A Three-year longitudinal study of change in teacher beliefs and practices in a kindergarten classroom. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
• Singh, S. (November 29-December 2, 2006). Changes in literacy beliefs and practices of a kindergarten teacher: A three-year longitudinal study. Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, Los Angeles, CA.
• Singh, S., & Barrera, R. B. (November 30-December 3, 2005). Early literacy instructional beliefs and practices: A case study of a monolingual kindergarten teacher in a multicultural setting. Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, Miami, FL.
• Singh, S. (December 4, 2004). Teacher beliefs and practices related to literacy instruction: A qualitative case study in a kindergarten classroom. Paper presented at the 2004 Fall Graduate Student Symposium, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Barrera, R. B., Kruger, S., Williams, S. O., & Singh, S. (April 21-25, 2003). Literacy teaching and learning in a pre-kindergarten class serving Latino and African American “at-risk” children: A qualitative case study. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
• Singh, S. & Lopez, A. (December 4-7, 2002). Implications of parents’ literacy perspectives for teachers and researchers of Latino and African American children. (symposium on Early literacy instruction for diverse learners: Factoring in parents’ understandings of schooling and literacy with Barrera, R. B., Kruger, S., Williams S., & Sosa-Ortiz, Y.). National Reading Conference, Miami, FL.
• Barrera, R.B., Kruger, S., Williams, S. W., Singh, S. Sosa-Ortiz, Y., Lopez, A. (June, 2002). Literacy teaching and learning in a pre-Kindergarten classroom serving Latino and African American “at risk” children. Illinois Education Research Council, Naperville, IL.
• Barrera, R.B., Kruger, S., Williams, S. W., Singh, S. Sosa-Ortiz, Y., Lopez, A. (April, 2002). Beating the odds: Literacy teaching and learning in a pre-K classroom serving Latino and African American “at risk” children.National-Louis University Reading Leadership Institute, Wheaton, IL.
• Singh, S. (July 9-11, 1999).Proverbs in Hindi – A cultural overview. South Asian Languages Analysis Roundtable XX, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL.

• Singh, S. (2017-19). Early Learning Initiatives (ELI). Funded by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad.Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (withM. Jain) (2017-2022). ERASMUS+ grant with the Ludwigsburg University of Education, Germany. Grant Coordinators, School of Education Studies, AUD.
• Singh, S. (withM. Jain)(2017-2020). BWS+ grant with the Ludwigsburg University of Education, Germany. Grant Coordinators, School of Education Studies, AUD.
• Singh, S. (2017-2020). Development of Early Childhood Care and Education Centers in Delhi. Funded by the Directorate of Higher Education (DHE), Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.Co-Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (September 2014-December, 2017).Developing Early Learning and Development Standards (ELDS) for children from Birth to Eight years in Indian context.Funded by UNICEF.Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (April-December, 2017). Strengthening Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE): In Support of Achieving Sustainable Development Goals.Funded by UNICEF.Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (withM.Jain)(Co-Principal Investigators, 2018-19). Study of new education experiments in Delhi government schools. Grant-in-Aid funded by the Government of the NCT of Delhi.School of Education Studies, AUD.
• Singh, S. (2016-17). Impact of the Read To Kids (R2K ) Intervention on Caregivers' Behaviors and Attitudes. Funded by Results for Development (R4D), Washington DC, USA.Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (2016-17). Baseline study early childhood component of 'StartEarly Read in Time' project in Odisha. Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (2015-16). Exploring the phenomenon of privatisation of schools: A microstudy (a part of the India Early Childhood Education Impact Study).Funded by World Bank.Faculty Mentor (With Dr. Manish Jain), Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (with Technical Core Group, 2014-16). Early Language and Literacy Position Paper.Funded by CARE India. Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (2015-16). Rapid Evaluation of PREM. Funded by Bernard van Leer Foundation. Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (2014).Exploring the Phenomenon of Privatization in Rural Schools in Rajasthan.Funded by World Bank. Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (2014).Read for Children Evaluation. Funded by Aga Khan Foundation. (CECED Project, Faculty mentor)
• Singh, S. .(2014-15). Evaluation of “I Love Reading Campaign” in MCD Schools in Delhi.Funded by Katha.Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Singh, S. (2015).Policy Brief on Multilingualism in Early Childhood. Faculty Mentor, Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.
• Ridzi, F., Sylvia, M., &Singh, S. (2011).Imagination Library: Do More Books in Hand Mean More Shared Reading?Center for Urban and Regional Applied Research Working Paper.Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York, USA.
• Singh, S., Carmody, V., Ridzi, F. & Sylvia, M. (2012).Co-PI, (Authorship is equal). Is literacy a gift that you can send to refugees in the mail? The Sociological Initiatives Foundation, Boston, MA.
• Singh, S. (2011-2012). Evaluation of the Impact of the Onondaga County Imagination Library Project.Center for Urban and Regional Applied Research (CURAR), Le Moyne College, NY, USA.
• Singh, S. (Summer, 2011). Awarded the Summer Research Stipend, Committee on Research and Development, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY.Project title, Changes in Literacy Beliefs and Practices of a Kindergarten Teacher—A Three-Year Longitudinal Study.