SOE News
Leigh Hall has joined us as an assistant professor of literacy studies, bringing a focus on struggling adolescent readers in content classrooms. Her interest stems from her own middle school teaching experience in Houston, Texas.
“When I taught sixth grade,” Hall said, “only a couple of students in a class of 25 were reading at the expected level.”
Hall found that it was harder to address these deficits in social studies classes than in language arts classes where literacy resources were readily available. She discovered that even though many of the students were struggling readers, they wanted to learn and were trying to find other ways of engaging in class, such as developing a network of friends who could help one another.
“Students have rationales for behaving as they do,” Hall said. “They bring different influences to the classroom.”
In her current research, Hall is studying how to help teachers become aware of the influences students bring to school and learn to deal with those influences productively.
In addition to pursuing her research, Hall will teach language arts methods to elementary education majors in the School of Education. She will emphasize socio-cultural theory, including how students’ cultural backgrounds impact their learning styles and response patterns. “Becoming aware of these influences will help our teacher education students be better teachers once they get into their own classrooms,” Hall said.
Hall earned a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, a Master of Education degree from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of South Florida. She served in numerous teaching capacities while at Michigan State, including working as a field instructor supervising intern teachers, serving as a teaching assistant for a course on literacy methods, and teaching senior elementary education students how to incorporate effective literacy practices into their teaching.
While pursuing her doctoral degree, she won both national and university awards, including a Spencer Research Training Grant in 2002 and a Dissertation Completion Fellowship in 2005. She is a member of the American Educational Research Association, the International Reading Association, the National Middle School Association and the National Reading Conference.
“I have felt very welcomed and supported in coming to the School of Education,” Hall said. “If I have questions, I know where to get help. I believe this is a place where I can grow and develop a career.”