Petra Horn-Marsh

Petra M. Horn-Marsh has more than 30 years of experience in the field of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies in various educational and research settings. With her B.A. in Secondary Education and History from Gallaudet University, M.A. in History and Ph.D. in Sociology from Utah State University, Dr. Petra extended her higher education experience after relocating to Kansas in 2003 by completing a Deaf Education certification program at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus and receiving another M.A. in Education Administration from University of Missouri Kansas City.  

Before joining the KU Edwards Campus in the fall of 2019, Dr. Petra worked at Kansas School of the Deaf for 15 years, first as a bilingual specialist then as an elementary/early childhood head teacher and extended school year director. During that time, she was also an adjunct professor at Gallaudet University, the University of North Florida, and Johnson County Community College, teaching ASL both in the classroom and online. In addition, Dr. Petra has consulting experience with schools for the deaf in the central region of the U.S. for the teaching faculty and staff professional development to strengthen their bilingual education pedagogy.

On the community level, Dr. Petra does volunteer work as an ASL Task Force Chair on the state level in addition to continuing her involvement with the National American Sign Language Education of Heritage Language Learner organization as a Coordinator of the ASL Curriculum Instruction and Assessment. She has served on the SB 323 Advisory Committee to develop a statewide Language Assessment Program for Deaf and hard-of-hearing children ages 0-8 for Kansas state.