Brett Elizabeth Blake, Ph.D. is a professor in the School of Education and a senior research fellow in The Vincentian Center for Social Justice and Poverty at St. John's University. She earned her doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her master's degree in linguistics from Northwestern University. Mary Ann Maslak, Ph.D. is a professor in the School of Education at St. John's University. She earned dual doctoral degrees in comparative and international education and curriculum and instruction, as well as her master's degree in educational administration and policy studies, from Pennsylvania State University.