School of Education

Research interests

Literacy intervention and clinics, digital literacy, human trafficking prevention, international education and the impact of study abroad experiences on educators.

Courses

• Diagnosis and remediation of reading difficulties
• Media literacy
• Teaching writing through children's literature
• Foundations of reading education
• Home-school communication

Bio

Dr. Joan A. Rhodes, associate professor of reading and early/elementary education, is the Faculty Director for Educator Preparation and Coordinator of Early Childhood and Elementary Education programs in the School of Education. In these roles she is responsible for supporting students in clinical placements, curriculum development and supporting licensure and accreditation efforts within the school. Rhodes is a member of the graduate faculty for the Ph.D. in Education program in which she teaches courses in professional development and instructional theory. During her tenure at VCU, Dr. Rhodes led nine study abroad programs to diverse countries including New Zealand, Hungary, Italy and Costa Rica. She served as the principal investigator for multiple grant-funded projects, totaling more than $9.7 million. She was awarded VCU SOE Distinguished Scholar Award (2007), SOE Alumni Council Faculty Award for Exemplary Application of Technology (2012), Virginia College Literacy Educators, Jones-Daly Award for Faculty Involvement (2018) and the Professors of LIteracy and Teacher Educators, International Distinction Award (2018).

Before joining the VCU faculty in 2003, Rhodes was an assistant professor at Auburn University-Montgomery and adjunct faculty at Texas A&M-Texarkana and George Mason University. She has more than 35 years of teaching experience at the preschool, elementary, middle school and collegiate levels, and has served as an English as a Second Language educator and reading specialist.

Curriculum Vitae