Jaime Puccioni

Jaime Puccioni received a dual PhD in Education Policy and Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education, with an emphasis in Language and Literacy, from Michigan State University in 2012. Prior to joining the faculty at the University at Albany, she was a National Institutes of Health-funded postdoctoral research associate at Michigan State University.

Dr. Puccioni's early research focused on how home and school contexts shape children's language, literacy, and educational development. Supported by the King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship and the Foundation for Child Development, her work examined school readiness, family engagement, and children's academic and social-emotional outcomes during the transition to elementary school.

Dr. Puccioni's current scholarship examines the intersection of literacy policy, pedagogy, and educational equity through critical policy analysis. Her recent work includes a critical content analysis of New York's Right to Read Act, investigating how Science of Reading legislation reflects competing purposes of schooling. She is also leading a study on play and early literacy that examines how New York State literacy guidance documents position and prioritize play-based literacy instruction. Using the combined lenses of hidden curriculum theory and educational goals, this research explores how policy messages shape classroom practices and influence opportunities for developmentally appropriate, play-centered learning in early elementary classrooms.

Dr. Puccioni has developed a scholarly interest in the parallels between equine training and teaching in higher education. Drawing on principles such as embodied cognition and neurophysiological approaches to learning, she explores how experiences with horse training can inform more relational, reflective, and responsive pedagogies in higher education and teacher preparation. This line of inquiry extends her broader interest in how beliefs, context, and educational interactions shape learning and development across human and more-than-human relationships.

Prior to completing her doctorate, Dr. Puccioni was a middle school teacher in Los Angeles, a literacy content coach, and a member of her school leadership team. She currently teaches ELTL 746: Literacy Education: Research, Practice, Policy, and Politics; ELTL 677: Data-Based Decision Making in Literacy Assessment, Policy, and Practice; ELTL 657: Literacy for English Language Learners; and ELTL 351: Early Childhood and Childhood Methods of English and Social Studies Instruction.