Ruxandra Filip is an PhD student in School and Clinical Child Psychology at OISE. She previously completed the Concurrent Education program at Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology and a Bachelor of Education in the Primary-Junior divisions. She has just returned to Toronto after teaching first grade for the past five years at the International School of Brussels. She is interested in combining her practical experience in the classroom with further research experience in order to explore the development and assessment of early literacy skills in the context of play-based learning. Ruxandra’s master’s research is funded by a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.