Affiliate Faculty Updates

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Mollie Blackburn, Ph.D

I teach Middle Childhood ELA methods and Ethnography of Literacy and Language. 

My research area is adolescent literacy with a particular emphasis on LGBTQ youth and the teachers who work with them. 

Publications 

Mallory, A., Blackburn, M. V. & Schey, R. (2024). The Consequences of intimacy, oppression, and activism on gendered power relations in a high school LGBTQ+-themed literature class. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 68, 50-59. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1370  

Staley, S., & Blackburn, M. V. (2023). Troubling emotional discomfort: Teaching and learning queerly in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 124, 104030. 

Blackburn, M.V. (2022). Moving across differences: How students engage LGBTQ+ themes in a high-school literature class. SUNY Press. 

Abigail Stebbins, Ph.D

My current research examines children’s “everyday” citizenship, integrative pedagogies in elementary classrooms, and critical approaches to using children’s literature and online curricula to teach elementary social studies. 

Publications 

Stebbins, A. & Brass, A. (2025). Social studies + mathematics: Using a slow reveal graph to explore Black members of Congress in U.S. history. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 37(4). 

Stebbins, A., Schroeder, S., & Han, S. (2024). Liberty Bells, flags, and monuments, oh my: Teaching citizenship through American symbols with TeachersPayTeachers. Contemporary Issues in Teacher Education Social Studies, 24(3). 

Detra Price, Ph.D

I draw on ethnographic and sociocultural lenses to examine the intersection of critical literacy education, learning technologies, and equity-based curriculum development in K-8 classrooms.

Publications

Touloukian, C., Price, D., Harlan Eller, K. (2024). Listening and Learning from Teachers: Lessons from K-12 Educators at the Intersection of Culturally Responsive and Digital Pedagogies during a Historic Moment. Teachers College Record, 126(9, 3-46). 

Price-Dennis, D & Mapes, N. (2021). “I don’t even know why this is a monument”: Exploring multimodal making in early childhood. Reading Teacher, 75(1), 91-101. 

Price-Dennis, D. & Sealey-Ruiz, Y. (2021). Advancing racial literacies in teacher education: Activism for equity in digital spaces. Teachers College Press. 

Caroline Clark, Ph.D

I teach courses on English Education, Children's and Young Adult Literature, adolescent literacies, and classroom-based inquiry. These include methods of teaching literature and writing/composition for pre-service ELA teachers.

Publications

Clark, C.T., Dunn, M. B., & Lewis, C. (2024). Interrogating the role of emotion and race in anti-oppressive language and literacy practices in education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 27(3), 271-275. 

Clark, C. T., Lewis, S., & Chrisman, A. (2024). Interrupting the hegemony of SEL: The productive potential of anger in young adult literature. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 27(3), 313-331. 

Clark, C. T., Skrlac Lo, R., Boyd, A., Cook, M., Crawley, A., & Rish, R. (2022). New conceptual tools for be(com)ing antiracist (teacher) educators at PWIs. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 21(4), 364-378. 

Clark, C. T., Chrisman, A., & Lewis, S. (2022). (Un)standardizing emotions: An ethical critique of social and emotional learning standards using Discrit and CDA. Teachers College Record, 124(7), 131-149. 

Sophia Jeong, Ph.D

I am dedicated to fostering creativity, encouraging inquisitive minds, and developing socio-political consciousness and activism through science education. My work aims to reimagine science education as a tool for societal justice, blending theoretical frameworks with practical applications to enhance both teaching effectiveness and student engagement in STEM fields. 

Jeong, S., Bryan, L., Tippins, D., & Sexton, C. (Eds.). (2023). Navigating the challenges of elementary science teaching and learning: Using case-based pedagogy to understand dilemmas of practice. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. This edited volume delves into the challenges of elementary science teaching, offering insights and strategies through case-based pedagogy to improve educational practices. 

Jeong, S., & Silverman, E. H. (2023). Bringing the politics of climate change down to Earth: Student descriptions of dwelling place and ‘geo-graphies’ as alternative belongings. East China Normal University Review of Education. This article explores how students perceive and narrate their interactions with the environment, offering a novel perspective on climate education. 

Adrian Rodgers, Ph.D

I focus on-service and pre-service teacher education with a literacy focus. I also focus on international engagement.

Publications

Parlindungan, F., & Rodgers, A. (2023). Negotiating Language Arts and the Islamic identity. Journal of Education in Muslim societies. 5 (1), 4-25. Tompkins, G.E., Rodgers, E., & Rodgers, A. (2022). Literacy for the 21st century. Pearson. 

Rodgers, A. (2021). Challenges in international sponsored admissions: A case study. In B. Shneikayt (Ed.). Global perspectives on recruiting international students: Challenges and opportunities. (pp. 139-154). Sense Publishers. 

Shayne Piasta, Ph.D 

I currently have two projects concerned with linguistic diversity in educational contexts. One project focuses on informal science learning and dual language learners from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The other project examines adults’ assessments of Black children’s narrative language. 

Dr. Piasta directs the Early Literacy and Learning Lab (EL3). Within the EL3, Dr. Piasta and colleagues collaboratively conduct and share high-quality research to support children’s literacy development. Past and ongoing projects are listed on the lab website.

Publications

Piasta, S.B., Logan, J.A.R., Zettler-Greeley, C.M., Bailet, L.L., Lewis, K., & Thomas, L.J.G. (2023). Small-group, emergent literacy intervention under two implementation models: Intent-to-treat and dosage effects for preschoolers at-risk for reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 56(3), 225-240. 

Piasta, S.B. (2023). The science of early alphabet instruction: What we do and do not know. In S.Q. Cabell, S.B. Neuman, & N.P. Terry (Eds.), Handbook on the Science of Early Literacy (pp. 83-94). Guilford. 

Piasta, S.B., Soto Ramirez, P., Farley, K.S., Justice, L.M., & Park, S. (2020). Exploring the nature of associations between educators’ knowledge and their emergent literacy classroom practices. Reading and Writing, 33, 1399-1422. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-019-10013-4 

Leslie Moore, Ph.D 

My research examines the social and cultural patterning of learning and language development in communities whose members use multiple languages and participate in multiple learning traditions.

Publications

Mills, M. T., Moore, L. C., Chang, R., Kim, S.*, Frick, B.* (2021). Perceptions of Black children’s narrative language: A mixed-methods study. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools: 52(1), 84-99. [Winner of ASHA Editors’ Award] 

Moore, L. C. (2021). Building partnerships and expanding repertoires of practice: Working with and in museums to improve informal science education for linguistically diverse young children. In D. S. Warriner & E. R. Miller (Eds.), Extending applied linguistics for social impact: Cross-disciplinary collaborations in diverse spaces of public inquiry, pp. 35-57. New York: Bloomsbury. 

Moore, L. C. (2016). Change and variation in family religious language policy in a West African Muslim community. Language Policy, 15(2), 125-139. 

Patricia Enciso, Ph.D – Director 2022-Present 

I work with elementary -middle grade students and teachers to facilitate engaged and equitable approaches to literature study. My research is framed by critical sociocultural theories of imagination and the ways storytelling supports new visions for a more just world.

Publications

Enciso, P., Dahlen, S. & Thomas, E. (Editors) (Forthcoming) The Handbook of Research on Diversity in Children’s and Young Adult. Literature. Routledge  

Enciso, P., Lewis, C., & Moje, E. (in press). Imagining, Feeling, and Navigating: Understanding Learning as ‘Newness in the World’. In Su-hua Wang (Ed) What Counts as Learning?: Diversifying Scholarship and Practices of Learning. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 

Enciso, P. (2021) “Where Are You?”:  Reading, Repositioning, and Imagining for AntiRacist Futures. In D. Sumara and D. Alverman (Eds) Ideas that Changed Literacy Practices: First Person Accounts from Leading Voices. Myers Education Press. 

Enciso, P. & Krone, B. (2022) Storytelling and Proleptic Gaps: Reimagining Inequities in the Mount. Research in the Teaching of English, 56(4), 432-456.  https://doi.org/10.58680/rte202231865