A University of Texas at Austin doctoral graduate in 2002, she has focused on the areas of literacy and diversity throughout her career as a classroom teacher for fourteen years and currently as a teacher educator and researcher. Her research interests include pursuing questions related to how teachers approach literacy instruction in linguistically and culturally diverse settings. She is the author of The Colonization of Literacy Education and several articles and book chapters focused on issues related to literacy instruction in diverse settings, with particular attention to how race is constructed in schooling at all levels. Dr. Pennington teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in early literacy instruction and graduate courses focused on qualitative research methodologies.