Nawal Qarooni

Nawal Qarooni is a Jersey City-based educator, author and adjunct professor who supports a holistic approach to literacy instruction and family experiences in schools across the country. Drawing on her work as an inquiry-based leader, mother, and proud daughter of immigrants, Qarooni’s pedagogy is centered in the rich and authentic learning all families gift their children every day. She and her team of coaches at NQC Literacy work with schools and districts to collectively grow teacher practice and children’s literacy lives. She is the author of "Nourishing Caregiver Collaborations: Elevating Home Experiences and Classroom Practices for Collective Care" (Stenhouse/ Routledge 2024). She has worked as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, staff developer, researcher, and professor.

In addition, Qarooni serves on the Library of Congress Literacy Awards Advisory Board, which funds powerful literacy programming across the country and worldwide. Qarooni is also a member of the National Council for Teachers of English Build Your Stack committee. She was a member of the National Council for Teachers of English Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English (2021-2024), and she yearly evaluates manuscripts for Reese Witherspoon’s LitUp program, which platforms historically underrepresented voices in publishing.

Qarooni holds a Bachelor of English from the University of Michigan, a Master of Teaching from Brooklyn College, and a Master of Journalism from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. She won a New Jersey Press Association Award for her international reporting and transitioned into education as a New York City Teaching Fellow. She currently teaches at New York University in the Teacher Residency program