Stephanie Spadorcia
Professional Title: Associate Professor
Areas of Academic Focus and Expertise:
Literacy assessment and instruction for children with special needs; role of technology to support all learners; selection of text for instruction
Area of Work and Concentration at Lesley: Literacy, reading
Representative List of Recent Courses Taught:
Assessment: A Literacy Perspective; Struggling Readers and Writers; Research in Reading; Literacy: The Integration of the Language Arts; Literacy and Numeracy for Children with Significant Special Needs
Education: Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; M.Ed., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; B.S., Lesley College
Representative List of Recent Publications / Exhibitions:
• Allan, K. K., McMackin, M., Dawes, E. Thulin, & Spadorcia, S. A. (2009). Learning to Write with Purpose: Effective Instruction in Grades 4-8. Guilford Publications, Inc.
• Erickson, K. A., Clendon, S. C., Cunningham, J. W., Spadorcia, S., Koppenhaver, D. A., Sturm, J., & Yoder, D. E. (2007). Automatic word recognition: The validity of a universally accessible assessment task. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 21, 64-75.
• Sturm, J., Spadorcia, S., Cunningham, J., Cali, K., Staples, A., & Erickson, K., Yoder, D., & Koppenhaver, D. (2006). What happens to reading between first and third grade? Implications for students who use AAC. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 22, 1, 21-36.
• Cunningham, J. W., Spadorcia, S. A., Erickson, K. A., Koppenhaver, D. K., Sturm, J. M., & Yoder, D. E. (2005). Investigating the Instructional Supportiveness of Leveled Texts. Reading Research Quarterly, 40, 4, 410-427.
Dr. Spadorcia's research and teaching focuses on literacy instruction for students across the disability continuum; assessment of reading and writing; and using technology to support literacy instruction. She has published articles and book chapters, and presents nationally. She is a researcher with the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at UNC at Chapel Hill, conducting research and development on literacy instruction for students with disabilities. She does work in schools in providing literacy instruction for all students, and the role of assessment in a literacy program.
sspadorc@lesley.edu