Denise Cunningham

Co-Director of the Missouri State University Center for Rural Education and GRAD Partnership Missouri Ozarks Hub Co-lead - Springfield, MO.

September 9, 2024 |
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Denise Cunningham serves as Co-Director of the Missouri State University Center for Rural Education, a unit she helped create while serving as Associate Dean of the College of Education. Denise has worked at Missouri State for 20 years in a variety of roles including faculty, Program Coordinator for Early Childhood Education, Department Head, and Associate Dean.

Denise has a passion for early childhood both within the public schools and the early care and education field. After 10 years as a Center Director and 10 years as a first grade teacher, literacy coach, and instructional coordinator in St. Louis Public Schools, she moved to Missouri State to teach early childhood education coursework that promotes the PK – 3rd grade continuum for early childhood.

Denise completed her doctoral work at the University of Missouri – St. Louis in Teaching and Learning with concentrations in Literacy and Early Childhood Education. She continues to research topics that intersect literacy and early childhood education as well as teacher education.

Denise is a first-generation college student from a rural high school. Her background fuels her passion to work with rural schools and bring high-quality teachers to rural Missouri schools. Recruiting rural candidates to enter the teacher education pipeline has been at the forefront of her work over the past five years.

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