Chrystine Mitchell, PhD is a former Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education and also functioned as the Director of the ECE Program at Alvernia University. She is now serving as Director of Early Childhood Education Operations at ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI), with previous experience working as an elementary school teacher, preschool teacher, Director of an EC center, and trainer, educational consultant, and administrator working in the public school system. She has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies/Children’s Literature from the University of Pittsburgh, a post-bacc Elementary Education Certification from Millersville University, M.Ed. in Educational Administration from Temple University, and a Ph.D. in Reading Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her work in higher education has focused on helping integrate best practices and 21st century skills into literacy instruction and assessment. Her research and scholarship includes literacy pedagogy, culturally sustaining pedagogy, digital technologies and ECE partnerships.