Maria Mavrides Calderon

With over a decade of teaching experience in early childhood settings, Maria focuses her teaching and research on the intersection of policy, inclusion, literacy, and mathematics for diverse populations. Prior to joining Hunter College, Maria led classrooms both in private and public settings, worked as a curriculum developer, and was an education director for one of the largest community based organizations in New York City. In her role as director, she trained, mentored and supervised teachers working in diverse classrooms.

Maria has also worked in several advocacy campaigns surrounding compensation for the early childhood workforce. This advocacy work led her to pursue her doctoral work investigating the implications of compensation policies. Maria earned her doctorate in 2021 and was awarded the 2021 Early Career Scholar Award by the NYC Early Childhood Research Network. Maria is also a certified professional development trainer and EdTPA scorer.

At Hunter College, Maria is the student teaching and fieldwork coordinator and teaches clinical, emergent literacy courses, and the research seminar. Her research interests include the effects of policy mandates on parents, teachers, and leaders, disability representation in early childhood literature, and how field experiences support teacher preparation.

• BS. Economics, Brandeis University
• MSed, Early Childhood Education, Hunter College, CUNY
• EdD, Instructional Leadership, Hunter College, CUNY

Graduate

• Language and Literacy: Birth-Kindergarten
• Student Teaching Seminar
• Integrative Seminar in Early Childhood

Undergraduate

• Language and Literacy for Diverse Learners: Birth-Age 4
• Student Teaching Seminar

• Policy effects on parents, teachers and leaders
• Higher education’s role in supporting working teachers
• Field experiences in teacher preparation
• Disability representation in early childhood literature

• Early Career Scholar Award (2021). NYC Early Childhood Research Network
• PSC CUNY Grant (2020). Parents’ Perspectives on Preschool Integration Study, New York, NY, Principal Investigator
• NAEYC (2015-2016) M. Grant Recipient. Title of the Project: Once Upon a Number: Teaching Mathematics through Fairy Tales.