Dr. Charlene Martin, Senior Professor in Literacy, brings a rich background of practical educational experience to Oral Roberts University. She has 15 years of public education experience, which includes teaching in special education and elementary education classrooms in a variety of instructional settings, ranging from early primary to high school levels. Over the course of her public school experience, she taught in Nebraska, Arizona, and Wyoming. Dr. Martin's also experiences include employment as a district-level literacy coordinator where she provided literacy-focused professional development and individual instructional coaching for faculty. Her teaching skills were expanded when she taught nontraditional adult students for a private junior college in Michigan. She continued to broaden her teaching expertise when she taught medical staff at a large county hospital to use a comprehensive computer system, which was the first time computers were utilized to this capacity in all areas of daily operations. This included writing the educational modules to help with this transition.
Dr. Martin joined ORU’s College of Education in August of 2004 after working with a California-based literacy foundation as a literacy consultant for school districts in ten states. As a literacy consultant she was known for strategically and creatively implementing research-based literacy practices in all areas of curriculum. Her primary focus was working with intermediate, middle school, and high school teachers. Throughout her tenure at ORU she has designed and/or taught courses in the classroom and online for undergraduate education majors. These courses prepare the teacher candidates to use literacy as the basis for all instruction. Courses taught include Elementary Language Arts, Emergent Language and Literacy, Literacy Methods and Materials, Learning-Centered Literacy Assessment, Literacy in the Secondary Classroom, Introduction to Special Education, Educational Assessment, and Integrated Instructional Methods. Ten years ago she designed and implemented a nationally recognized mentoring program for first and second-year ORU teaching alumni. She continues to serve as director for this successful program. In 2022, she was honored to receive ORU’s Excellence in Teaching Award.
Dr. Martin earned her B.S. with a double major in Special Education and Elementary Education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, graduating with honors. She earned her M.A. in Christian School Curriculum from Oral Roberts University, graduating with honors. In 2012 she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Ph.D. in Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum with an Emphasis in Reading. Her dissertation won both a national and international award.