Gwynne Ellen Ash, Ph.D.
A middle school teacher, reading specialist, and teacher educator, I currently work alongside preservice teachers and reading specialist candidates at the university that educates the most teachers in Texas and the fourth most in the nation (http://gwynne.wp.txstate.edu/). A full vita is available on my faculty webpage.
My work has been published in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Voices from the Middle, Reading and Writing Quarterly, The Handbook of Reading Research, The Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension, and more, but two pieces have been most influential on educational policy/practice: “Teaching Readers Who Struggle: A Pragmatic Middle School Language Arts Framework” (Ash, 2002), which presented an applied theory of adolescent literacy instruction, and “Analyzing ‘Inconsistencies’ in Practice: Teachers’ Continued Use of Round Robin Reading” (Ash, Kuhn, & Walpole, 2009), which described practices in the round robin reading (RRR) family, why teachers use RRR, and meaningful alternatives.
I have a B.A. (Trinity University) and M.A. (Texas A&M University) in English, and I earned my Ph.D. in Reading Education from the University of Georgia. I joined Texas State as an experienced Assistant Professor in 2004 (from the University of Delaware), was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 2007, and was promoted to Professor in 2013.
In my day job, I teach a variety of undergraduate and graduate literacy methods courses, and I was recently one of the Co-Editors of English in Texas, the award-winning, peer-reviewed journal of the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts (TCTELA, an affiliate of NCTE). I served as an elected member of the Board of Directors of the International Literacy Association (formerly the International Reading Association) from 2015-2018.
I hold the following teacher credentials:
Reading Specialist, Texas, Grades EC-12
Master Reading Teacher, Texas, Grades EC-12
English as a Second Language, Texas, Grades EC-12
Reading, Texas, Grades 6-12
English Language Arts, Texas, Grades 6-12
English, Texas, Grades 6-12
I am an active member of the following professional organizations: International Literacy Association www.reading.org National Council of Teachers of English www.ncte.org
Literacy Research Association www.literacyresearchassociation.org
Texas Association for Literacy Education www.texasreaders.org
Texas Council for Teachers of English Language Arts www.tctela.org
And as a fun fact, I am also a Jeopardy Champion (February 28-29, 2008). http://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=4725 http://web.trinity.edu/x28798.xml