Mai Zaru, Ph.D.

Dr. Mai Zaru is a Program Project Coordinator at the University of North Texas, where she helps shape college access programs that move students from possibility to preparation to postsecondary success. With over eight years of experience across PK–16 settings, she collaborates with students, families, educators, and institutions to design and evaluate programs that reduce barriers, strengthen supports, and expand opportunity, always grounded in students’ lived realities.

A community-engaged literacy scholar and educator, Dr. Zaru’s work explores how translanguaging practices shape identity and belonging in transnational communities. Using mixed-methods and participatory approaches, she centers student voice not only in representation, but in defining problems, shaping solutions, and building dialogue as the infrastructure for shared understanding and impact. Her work has been published and presented nationally and internationally, and she has been recognized by the International Literacy Association for emerging leadership in literacy research and practice. 

She believes meaningful data practices should deepen—not dilute—care for students by supporting collaborative, cross-disciplinary work that treats standards as a foundation for opportunity, not a ceiling on aspiration.

Education

2024, Ph.D., Education, Southern Methodist University

2020, M.A., Reading Teacher Education, University of Florida

2017, B.S., Special Education and Teaching, Brigham Young University