Faculty Research Profiles: Mark Dressman

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Associate Professor

Curriculum & Instruction
316 Education Building
1310 S. 6th St. MC 708
217 244-6815
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Research Biography

My research investigates the underlying cultural, philosophical, economic, and historical assumptions that shape research and practice in the teaching of reading and writing across a wide range of topics. The goal of this research is to refine and improve current practice in language and literacy curriculum and teaching.

Currently, I am working on three projects. One is a study of the teaching of poetry in U.S. secondary schools from the early twentieth century to the present. A colleague at the University of Georgia and I are analyzing more than 600 articles on the topic published in English Journal from 1912 to the present within the historical contexts of literary criticism, world and national affairs, and curriculum during the period. The second study is of the use of social theory within literacy research published in three major literacy research journals in the last 15 years. My third and most recent study focuses on my own teaching of preservice secondary English teachers. In this project, students in my courses will engage in threaded online discussions with students in an English program at a university in Morocco around shared literary readings. Analysis of transcripts from their conversations will be used to improve models of cross-cultural dialogue within teacher education programs.

My earlier research examined the individualism of reading and writing workshop approaches and its consequences for students from cultural backgrounds that were more communal and collectivist in their communication practices. I have also examined the historical and cultural roots of librarianship and their impact on elementary students of different genders, social classes, and cultural backgrounds, the political and instructional implications of the Whole Language movement, and the cultural and theoretical assumptions underlying phonemic awareness research and state and federal reading policies. More recently, I have completed a series of case studies of students with a long history of struggle in school that questions three theories of school failure, and another study focusing on computer technology and struggling adolescent readers.

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Language and Literacy Studies, The University of Texas at Austin, 1994
  • M.A., Curriculum Development, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1981
  • B.A., English and Psychology, Thomas More College, Crestview Hills, KY, 1977

Key Professional Appointments

  • Associate Professor, Curriculum & Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003--
  • Assistant Professor, Curriculum & Instruction, University of Houston, 1997-1999
  • Assistant Professor, Curriculum & Instruction, New Mexico State University, 1994-1997

Activities & Honors

  • Co-Editor, Research in the Teaching of English, National Council of Teachers of English, 2007-2013
  • Editorial Board Member, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, International Reading Association, 2007-2011
  • Chair, Early Career Research Award Committee, National Reading Conference, 2006-2009
  • Area 6 Co-Chair, Adolescent, College, and Adult Literacy Processes, National Reading Conference, 2004-2006
  • Member, Editoral Board, Research in the Teaching of English, 2003-2008
  • Reviews Editor, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 2002-2006

Grants

  • Principal Investigator, Hardie Collaborative Stipend: Religion, Race and Language in Global Context: A Proposal for Collaborative Undergraduate Ethnographic Research, Bureau of Educational Research, 2007
  • Principal Investigator, Using Technology to Enhance Echievement in Math, Science, and Literacy: A Middle School-University Partnership, Hewlett-Packard, 2001
  • Principal Investigator, Reading the Lives and Literacies of Disenfranchised, Disaffected Youth, Campus Research Board, 2000

Selected Publications

  • Dressman, M., & Wilder, P. (2007). Wireless technology and the prospect of alternative education reform. In J. Albright and A. Luke (Eds.), Bourdieu and literacy education (pp.113-135). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Dressman, M. (in press). Using social theory in educational research: A practical guide. New York: Routledge.
  • Dressman, M. (2007). Theoretically framed: Argument and desire in the production of general knowledge about literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 42, 332-363.
  • Dressman, M. (2006). Teacher, teach thyself: Teacher research as gendered ethnographic practice. Ethnography, 7(3), 329-356.
  • Wilder, P., & Dressman, M. (2006). New literacies, enduring challenges? The role of capital in adolescent readers' internet practices. In D. E. Alvermann, K. A. Hinchman, D. W. Moore, S. F. Phelps, & D. R. Waff (Eds.), Reconceptualizing the literacies in adolescents' lives (2nd ed., pp. 205-230). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.