Biography
Dr. Marga Madhuri is passionate about sharing the joy of literacy and feels fortunate for being able to do so for over three decades. She began her career teaching middle school English/Language Arts in the Glendale Unified School District, where she was voted Teacher of the Year. From there, she joined the faculty at the University of La Verne, and teaches courses focused on literacy instruction to pre-service teachers at the elementary and secondary levels.
Dr. Madhuri's passion to support all learners has led to her being one of the founding faculty, and now Chair, of the Dyslexia Teacher Training Program. This is an Orton-Gillingham based program designed to teach educators how to provide 1:1 intervention to children who struggle with literacy, such as those with dyslexia. The DTTP is the first program in the state of California to be accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC), a prestigious and rigorous accrediting body.
Dr. Madhuri's desire to share the love of literacy has led to the creation of the Family Learning Conference held annually on campus for over 19 years, involving many student groups on campus and throughout the community. She has also spearheaded multiple family nights in local schools, libraries and bookstores in order to foster engaging literacy practices in the home. She has partnered with local districts to bring first generation students and parents to campus to explore the possibility of going to college. In order to better connect with the families she works with, Dr. Madhuri has embarked on the journey to learn Spanish, which has led to organizing and running book clubs in Spanish with parents who are working on their Spanish literacy skills.
Through her scholarship, Dr. Madhuri has explored family literacy, teaching methods for early elementary literacy, motivation and engagement and its relationship to learning, and now bridging research from the neurosciences into education. She has explored how the brain learns to read and what happens in atypical brains. Dr. M. has shared her research and experiences through multiple conferences and publications.
Dr. Madhuri’s interests include natural healing, nutrition, daily vigorous movement, and brain-based teaching and learning.