The Emerging Researcher Spotlight celebrates graduate students who are beginning to develop their research agendas and contribute to new knowledge in their fields. This page highlights our students’ innovative ideas, early research contributions, and growing scholarly interests as they build the foundation for meaningful research and future discovery.
Mary Woodard
Mary Woodard, Ed.S., is a dedicated English Learner (EL) Educator in Hoover City Schools and a doctoral candidate in Early Childhood Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (anticipated completion December 2026). Mary holds an Ed.S. and B.A. in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, alongside an M.A.Ed. in English as a Second Language. Recognized as the 2022 UAB Outstanding Educational Specialist Student of the Year, she brings a wealth of classroom, research, and supervisory experience to the field of multilingual literacy. Her dissertation research focuses on multilingual families' home libraries. Her broader work focuses on empowering multilingual families, developing translanguaging practices, and building supportive, inclusive early childhood environments. Mary has served as a field supervisor for teacher candidates and contributed to major federal grants focused on English language acquisition, including the USDE OELA-funded EMPOWER and IMPACT-PD initiatives.
Above all, Mary is the proud mother of a 9-year-old who has been by her side throughout her entire educational journey at UAB. Outside of academia and the classroom, Mary is an elite athlete in the Women’s National Football Conference (WNFC). Demonstrating leadership both in the classroom and on the field, she was named the WNFC Offensive MVP in 2023 and captured a WNFC Championship title in 2024.
Selected Publications & Research
Paul, J., Sudduth, M., Woodard, M., Pruitt, C., & Hill, K. (2023). Empowering Pre-service Educators to Build Multilingual Spaces Through Family Engagement. The Reading Paradigm Journal.
Conference Presentations & Professional Workshops
National & International
Paul-Flannery, J., & Woodard, M. (2023, November). Construyendo Relaciones Familiares Más Fuertes: The Power of Family Dialogue Journals. National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention, Columbus, OH.
Regional
Paul, J., & Woodard, M. (2024, January). Empowering Multilingual Families through Family Dialogue Journals. Alabama-Mississippi TESOL (AMTESOL) Conference, MS/AL.
Paul, J., Hill, K., Sudduth, M., Pruitt, C., & Woodard, M. (2022, July). Preparing Pre-service Educators to Create Multilingual Spaces Through Family Engagement Practices. NCTE Literacies and Languages for All Conference, Louisville, KY.
Paul, J., Hill, K., Sudduth, M., Pruitt, C., & Woodard, M. (2022, July). Monolingual Teachers – Multilingual Children: Creating Supportive Spaces for All to Discover Their Value and Find Their Voices. NCTE Literacies and Languages for All Conference, Louisville, KY.
State & Local
Woodard, M. (2025, March). Using Project Approach To Front Load Multilingual Learners Vocabulary. UAB School of Education and Human Sciences Research Day, Birmingham, AL.
Woodard, M. (2023, July). Authentic Language: Translanguaging In All Language Domains. LTI Summer Professional Development, Hoover City Schools, Hoover, AL.