Dr. Delphia S. Smith
Biography
Dr. Delphia S. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Claflin University. She serves as Curriculum Committee Chair in the School of Education and Faculty Advisor for the School of Education Student Advisory Council. Dr. Smith received her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction, Literacy Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her dissertation examined Second Grade Teachers’ Understanding and Use of Text Complexity and Complex Text in their classrooms. Before entering the academy, Dr. Smith served as an elementary educator for over 11 years in the United States and her home country, the Bahamas. A lover of reading and writing, Dr. Smith has coauthored several children’s books that focus on areas such as race, diversity, and the importance of hard work and dedication.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction, Literacy Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Master of Science in Reading Education, Florida International University
Bachelor of Education in Primary Education, University of the Bahamas (formerly the College of the Bahamas)
Research Interests
• Early Reading/ Early Literacy
• Reciprocity of reading and writing and its impact on students’ comprehension
• Summer Setback/Summer Reading Loss
• Educational equity/reform
• Text Complexity and Complex Text
Activities and Honors
• Advisor, SOESAC (School or Education Student Advisory Council), Claflin University
• Session Moderator, Eighteenth Claflin University Conference on Contemporary English
And Language Arts Pedagogy in Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions (2019).
• Fellowship Application Incentive Program (FAIP) Award
• National Black Graduate Student Association Appreciation Award
Recent Publications
Wiggan, G., Smith, D. & Watson-Vandiver, M. (2020). The National Teacher Shortage, Urban
Education and the Cognitive Sociology of Labor. The Urban Review.
Smith, D. (2019). Think Aloud: The Importance of Helping Young Readers Understand What
They Read. (Council for Exceptional Children -Division for Early Childhood-Louisiana, Spring 2019 Newsletter) Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Wiggan, G., & Smith, D. (2017). Norma's Journey from an Island to the United States.
Middletown, DE: Amazon Books.
Wiggan, G., & Smith, D. (2017). One Love: All of God's Children. Middletown, DE: Amazon
Books.
Wiggan, G., & Smith, D. (2017). We Can All Achieve! Middletown, DE: Amazon Books
Wiggan, G., & Smith, D. (2017). The Day Racism Died. Middletown, DE: Amazon Books
Wiggan, G., & Smith, D. (2017). Rise Like the Sun. Middletown, DE: Amazon Books.
Recent Presentations
Smith, D. (2020). Are Early Grade Teachers Prepared to Teach With Complex Text? International Literacy Association 2020 Conference. Columbus, Ohio (Conference Canceled).
Smith, D., & Williams, D. (2019). Let’s Build: Using Reading Activities and Strategies to Build Student Comprehension. Reading Recovery & Early Literacy Conference. Winnipeg, Canada.
Wagner, K., Dymes, L., Smith, D., & Wiggan, G. (2017, March). Tracking students through life: Global and local perspective on academic tracking of Mexican immigrant students in the United States, Korean immigrant students in Japan, and academic success of Bahamian immigrants in the U.S. Doctoral Symposium, UNCC. Regional
Smith, D. (2017). What now? Getting through graduate school. Talk presented at the 29th annual National Black Graduate Student Association Conference. Charlotte, NC.
Smith, D. (2017). Keys to Academic Success. Invited presenter for Fall New Graduate Student Orientation, Center for Graduate Life, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC.