Professor
Department of Teaching, Learning, and Leading
I am a teacher educator and educational researcher whose interests include comprehension and learning from text, disciplinary literacy, and vocabulary. I am particularly focused on discussion about informational texts. I investigate how teacher educators can engage teachers in planning and enacting those discussions so that students learn not only the text content but also how that content is presented.
Instructional Interests
I teach courses in the reading specialist certification program including:
- IL 2211: Comprehension and Vocabulary
- IL 2218: Literacy Practicum for Adolescent Students
I teach a course in the CASE program:
- IL 1209: Reading/Writing Methods 2: Grades 2-4
I also teach courses in the EdD and PhD programs.
Selected Grants
I was a co-investigator on a Spencer Foundation grant, Promoting Disciplinary Literacy and Learning through Multisource Text Inquiries: An Instructional Study of Middle School Learners, secured by B-Y. Cho and E. Rainey (2018-2019).
Featured Publications
Recent publications related to disciplinary literacy in history include the following:
- Kucan, L., & Cho, B-Y. (2018). “Were there any black people in Johnstown?” An investigation of culturally relevant pedagogy in service of supporting disciplinary literacy learning in history. Urban Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085918804011
- Kucan, L., Rainey, E., & Cho, B-Y. (2018). Engaging middle school students in disciplinary literacy through culturally relevant historical inquiry. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.940
Awards and Honors
I was selected by the International Literacy Association to serve on the search committee for the new editorial team of Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy.
Engagement, Partnerships, and Professional Service
I currently serve on the editorial boards of Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy and Impacting Education, a publication of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED).