Dr. De Fina holds a Ph.D. from the Psychological Foundations of Reading program at New York University. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Literacy Education at New Jersey City University. A former special educator, high school English teacher, and elementary school teacher and staff development specialist, he is an award-winning poet who has twice received the William Carlos Williams Poetry Award for New Jersey Poets.
Dr. De Fina is a former columnist for Instructor magazine’s “Poetry Pages.” He is also a frequent editor of children’s poetry books for Boyds Mills Press, and is the author of a forthcoming book for educators on how to teach poetry in K-6 classrooms. The book is tentatively titled, “So Much Depends Upon…” Getting Students Excited About Poetry, and will be released through Scholastic Professional Books.
