Penn State's College of Education is regularly ranked among the nation's best graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report, and the certificate program in family literacy is taught by the same nationally recognized faculty.
Sheila Sherow, D.Ed.
Research Associate, Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy
Areas of Interest
- Family literacy
- Training/coordination of volunteer adult literacy tutors
- Distance education
- English as a second language (ESL)
- Workforce development/literacy
Dr. Sherow is the statewide program director for the Pennsylvania Literacy Corps and, since 1989, has been responsible for the administration/coordination/training of an average of twenty-two Pennsylvania Literacy Corps grantees each program year. In that role she has developed an online college-level course to train traditional college students and returning adult learners as volunteer adult literacy tutors, and she has developed a wide range of tutor training materials. In 2001 she was named a Public Scholarship Associate at Penn State for her work in community service. For the past ten years Dr. Sherow has been a local evaluator for the Even Start Family Literacy Program. In addition, she has been a program director and/or evaluator for a variety of other adult literacy projects.
Gary William Kuhne, D.Ed.
Associate Professor of Education, Lead Faculty Member for the World Campus M.Ed. Adult Education
Areas of Interest
- Continuing professional education
- Human resource development and staff development
- Program planning
- Action research
- Adult religious education
- Distance education
As the lead faculty member for the World Campus M.Ed. in adult education program, Dr. Kuhne provides both coordination and leadership for the use of Web-based learning and asynchronous learning for the delivery of graduate level education. He is also an active consultant to nonprofit, corporate, and government agencies on issues linked to staff development, continuing professional education, human resource development, action research, and distance education. The author of eight books and numerous articles and reports, he has been involved with adult learners for more than thirty years in a variety of settings, including adult religious education, human resource development, continuing professional education, and higher education. Listed in Who's Who in American Education and elected to the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, Dr. Kuhne was a co-recipient of the 1995 Award for Excellence in Research and Publication from the National University Continuing Education Association (NUCEA).
Donna S. Bell, M.Ed.
Project Manager, National Center for Family Literacy
Areas of Interest
- Family literacy
- Children's education, with an emphasis on early childhood parenting education and the Parent and Child Together (PACT) Time program
- Teacher preparation and professional development
- Curriculum planning and development
Ms. Bell joined the National Center for Family Literacy (NCRL) for the specific purpose of developing the online certificate program in family literacy program with the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy. At the NCFL she has worked as a trainer and contributed to revising the organization's Foundations in Family Literacy training materials and writing content for online volunteer training through Verizon Literacy University. She served as professor and program coordinator for an early childhood teacher preparation program in Kentucky, where she received the Distinguished Faculty Award for 1999-2000. She participated in developing Kentucky's early childhood professional standards for teachers and program criteria, and partnered in designing early childhood degree programs at two neighboring universities. As part of a national collaboration project, she authored online early childhood professional development content. Ms. Bell has been a presenter at numerous local, state, and national conferences, and has served as a trainer, consultant, and evaluator for early childhood programs.
