Mary Tackett
Associate Professor of Education

Dr. Mary Tackett is an Associate Professor of Education in the Elementary Education and Teaching Program at Longwood University. She supervises preservice teachers and teaches classes on the foundations of literacy instruction and instructional design and assessment.

Mary earned her B.A. in English, M.A. in Elementary Education, Ed.S. in Reading/Literacy, and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Tech, where she was named Graduate Student of the Year and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Outstanding Recent Alumna. Mary earned a Graduate Certificate in Education and Cognition and a teaching endorsement for teaching English to speakers or other languages, and prior to her work at Longwood, she worked as an elementary school teacher, Literacy Coach, and reading/writing tutor. She has served as Program Coordinator for the Elementary Education program at Longwood University, and as the Graduate Director and Co-Chair of the Education Department at Sweet Briar College. 

Mary's research interests focus on children’s literature and how educators can utilize diverse children’s books within classroom contexts to address salient societal issues. When she is not teaching, researching, or working on curriculum, Mary enjoys spending time with her family and baking, running, organizing, reading, making arts/crafts, and musical theater.