Kelly Chandler-Olcott is Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence and the dean of the School of Education. A former high school English and social studies teacher, she has taught English methods and content literacy courses to secondary and K-12 education majors for nearly 25 years. She has also served SOE as associate dean for research, chair of the Reading & Language Arts department, and coordinator of English Education programs.
With support from the National Science Foundation, the International Reading Association, and the Spencer Foundation, Chandler-Olcott has published six books and more than 120 book chapters, articles, and editorials. Her scholarly interests cluster in three areas: classroom inquiry by teachers, literacy across the curriculum, and preparing professionals to teach writing in diverse, inclusive classrooms. She identifies primarily as a design researcher, developing, testing, and refining instructional approaches in collaboration with school-based practitioners, university colleagues, and students themselves.
Her scholarship has been recognized with the International Literacy Association’s Computers in Reading Research Award (2019) and the Divergent Book Award for Excellence in 21st Century Literacies Research (2021). She served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Literacy Research Association from 2010 to 2013 and co-edited Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy with her RLA colleague Kathleen A. Hinchman from 2015-2021.
Her research interests cluster in three areas: classroom inquiry by teachers, literacy across the curriculum, and preparing professionals to teach writing in diverse, inclusive settings.