Faculty Research Profiles: Sarah McCarthey

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Professor

Curriculum & Instruction
308 Education Building
1310 S. 6th St. MC 708
217 244-1149
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Research Biography

Sarah McCarthey's current focus is on teachers' attitudes towards writing and their writing instruction within policy contexts such as NCLB. She has identified trends in writing instruction including the implementation of writer's workshop, genre-based instruction, and packaged programs that she has presented at national conferences. She has also worked with lMargery Osborne and local teachers on the use of writing in science instruction. 

Sarah's work with Georgia Garcia to investigate the ways in which second language learners construct their identities as writers in English and in their native language was published in Research in the Teaching of English (2004), Written Communication (2005) and  Journal of Second Language Writing (2005).

Sarah is co-editor with Mark Dressman and Paul Prior of Research in the Teaching of English, a premier journal in the field of literacy. She is also a co-investigator of the University of Illinois Writing Project with Gail Hawisher (Writing Studies) and Elizabeth Morley (Writer's Workshop). the project brings together local teachers to improve writing instruction in grades k-12.

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Teacher Education, Michigan State University, 1991
  • M.A., Teacher Education, Stanford University, 1982
  • B.A., English/Elementary Education, Tufts University, 1977

Key Professional Appointments

  • Associate Head of Graduate Programs, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007--
  • Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Univeristy of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005--
  • Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois, 1999-2005
  • Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Texas, 1997-1999
  • Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Texas, 1991-1997

Activities & Honors

  • Co-editor with Mark Dressman and Paul Prior, National Council of Teachers of English, Research in the Teaching of English, 2007-2013
  • best journal article of 2005, $1000 award for best jounral article, Journal of Second Language Writing, 2006
  • Assistant Editor, Harris, T. l., & Hodges, R. E. (in preparation). The Literacy Dictionary: The vocabulary of reading and writing, 2nd edition). Newark, DE, International Reading Association, 2002-2004
  • Faculty Fellow, Bureau of Educational Research, 2002-2003
  • Member, Editorial Board, National Reading Conference, 2001-2004
  • Distinguished Scholar, College of Education, 2001
  • Associate Editor, The New Advocate, 2000-2003
  • Editorial Board Member, Editorial Board, Reading Research Quarterly, Reading Research Quarterly, 1999-2007
  • Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Literacy Studies, Journal of Literacy Studies, 1999-2002
  • Editorial Board Member, Editorial Board, Elementary School Journal, 1997-2008
  • Division K, Young Researchers Award, American Educational Research Association, 1997

Grants

  • Principal Investigator, English Language Learners' Identity Constructions as Writers, Campus Research Board, 2003
  • Principal Investigator, English Language Learners' Identity Constructions as Writers, Bureau of Educational Research, 2002
  • Principal Investigator, English Language Learners' Identity Constructions as Writers, Campus Research Board, 2002

Selected Publications

  • McCarthey, S. J. (2007). Four metaphors of the composing process. In L. Bresler (Ed.), International handbook of research in arts education (pp. 475-490). The Netherlands: Springer.
  • McCarthey, S. J. (2007). Composing as metaphor and process: Prelude to the composition section. In L. Bresler (Ed.), International handbook of research in arts education (pp. 445-449). The Netherlands: Springer.
  • McCarthey, S. J. (in press). Understanding English language learners' identities from three theoretical perspectives. In Guofang Li (Ed.). Multicultural families, home literacies, and mainstream schooling. New York: SUNY Press.
  • McCarthey, S. J., & Garcia, G. E. (2005). English language learners' writing practices and attitudes. Written Communication, 22(1), 36-75.
  • McCarthey, S. J., Guo, Y. H., & Cummins, S. (2005). Understanding changes in elementary Mandarin students' L1 and L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 14, 71-104.