Jyothi Bathina

Jyothi Bathina, Ph.D., is an educator, scholar, and literacy advocate whose career spans K–12 education, higher education, teacher preparation, educational leadership, and community-based literacy work. Her teaching and scholarship focus on literacy, English learners, culturally responsive pedagogy, and the role of personal narrative in helping students develop as readers, writers, and thinkers.

Dr. Bathina began her career as an English language arts teacher and has remained deeply connected to classrooms throughout her professional life. She has worked as a teacher, instructional coach, university faculty member, and educational leader, bringing together research, theory, and the practical realities of teaching in diverse communities.

She is the founder of Literate Voices, a literacy and youth development program that engages young people in reading, writing, storytelling, and publishing their own work. Through personal narrative, students explore identity, family, community, relationships, and their aspirations for the future. The program has been implemented in diverse school communities and independently evaluated by WestEd.

Dr. Bathina has taught at California State University, Fresno, and served as Director of the Center for the Advancement of Reading and Writing for the California State University Chancellor’s Office, supporting literacy initiatives and collaboration across the CSU system.

Throughout her career, Dr. Bathina has been guided by the belief that students’ languages, cultures, families, and lived experiences are powerful resources for learning. Her work is dedicated to preparing educators to create rigorous, inclusive classrooms where students are known, valued, and empowered to find and use their voices.