Faculty Research Profiles: Karla J. Moller

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Assistant Professor

Curriculum & Instruction
317 Education Building
1310 S. 6th St. MC 708
217 265-4039
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Research Biography

My interests are focused on literacy education at the elementary level, specifically in the areas of multiethnic and multicultural literature. My most recent research is on heterogeneous grouping, literature discussion groups, conceptualizations of struggling and capability with regards to literacy events, and engagement and dialogue of children, pre-service, and in-service teachers related to reading culturally diverse literature with social justice themes. I am also involved in working with local area teachers to create support structures for pre-service and in-service teachers who are seeking to expand their learning.

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Children's Literature and Language Arts, University of Georgia, 2001
  • M.Ed., Foreign Language Education, University of Georgia, 1991
  • B.A., Psychology and German, University of Georgia, 1984

Key Professional Appointments

  • Assistant Professor, Curriculum & Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002--
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Language Education, Indiana University, 2001-2002
  • Temporary Assistant Professor, Department of Language Education, University of Georgia-Athens, 2001-2001
  • Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant, Department of Language Education, University of Georgia- Athens, 1996-2000
  • ESOL Teacher & Test Specialist, Inlingua School of Languages- Kiel, Germany, 1987-1988
  • Teaching Assistantship, Department of Germanic & Slavic Languages, University of Georgia- Athens, 1985-1986

Activities & Honors

  • Co-Chairperson, Ethnicity, Racism, Multilingualism Innovative Community Group for the National Reading Conference, National Reading Conference, 2006-2008
  • 2006 Language and Literacy Student Organization Faculty Award, Presented by the graduate students in the Language and Literacy Division, Language and Literacy Graduate Student Organization, 2006
  • Editorial Review Board, Manuscript reviewer for JLR, a premier research journal for the literacy field, Journal of Literacy Research, 2003- present
  • Conference Program Chair, Literature Special Interest Group, AERA Conferences 2004, 2005, American Educational Research Association, 2003-2005
  • Reviewer, Book Proposals and Manuscripts, Guilford Publications, Inc., 2002-2005
  • Conference Program Co-Chair, Literacy Learning and Practice in Multilingual and Multicultural Settings (Area 8 and Area 11), National Reading Conference, 2002-2004
  • Editorial Review Board, The New Advocate, 2001-2003
  • Student Outstanding Research Award Finalist, National Reading Conference, 2001
  • Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, The Spencer Foundation, 2000-2001
  • President, Alpha Epsilon Alpha International Reading Honor Society, University of Georgia, 2000-2001
  • Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, University of Georgia Department of Academic Affairs, University of Georgia, 2000
  • Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award, University of Georgia Chapter, Kappa Delta Pi, 2000
  • Fulbright Fellowship, Germany, Fulbright Program, 1986-1987

Grants

  • Principal Investigator, Faculty Fellow, Bureau of Educational Research, 2006
  • Principal Investigator, Creating a Connected and Collaborative Community: Exploring Effective Literacy Pedagogy in and for a Richly Diverse School, Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, 2005
  • Fellow, Spencer Dissertation for Research Related to Education, The Spencer Foundation, 2000

Selected Publications

  • Möller, K. J. (2006). Bernice E. Leary: Teacher, teacher educator, children's book editor and collector, reading pioneer. In S. Israel (Ed.), Reading pioneers: Historical accounts of earlier, outstanding contributions to the field of reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
  • Möller, K. J. (in press; to be released 2007). Reading socially in a multicultural world: Conceptualizing a response development zone. In W. Brooks & J. McNair (Eds.), Embracing, Evaluating and Examining African American Children's and Young Adult Literature. 40 pp. 
  • Möller, K. J., & Hug, B. (2006). Connections across literacy and science instruction in early childhood education: Interweaving disciplines in pre-service teacher education. The Yearbook of the National Reading Conference, 55, 195-211.
  • Hug, B., & Möller, K. J. (2005). Collaboration and connectedness in two teacher educators' shared self-study. Studying Teacher Education: A Journal of Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices, 1, 123-140.
  • Möller, K. J. (2004/2005). "Hi everybody! This is Ashley": A story of a struggling reader and a more capable peer. Journal of Literature Research, 36, 419-460.