Karen R. Harris

Karen R. Harris

Dr. Karen R. Harris is the Warner Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. She has worked in the field of education for over 40 years, initially as a general education teacher and then as a special education teacher. Her research focuses on improving research and practice related to writing development, especially among students with learning disabilities and students who struggle with writing.

Dr. Karen R. Harris discusses how to build a sense of self-efficacy to counteract negative feelings toward writing.

Even very young children show a spontaneous interest in the written word.

Effective writers must grasp the concept of audience and purpose to communicate their ideas.

Dr. Harris discusses how Common Core has the potential to nurture writing skills in all genres.

Although writing requires its own instructional time, reading and writing skills reinforce each other.

The Common Core State Standards task students with using reading and writing together to develop and display understanding.

Dr. Harris discusses SRSD, which is currently the most powerful approach to strategies instruction in writing.

Dr. Harris discusses how technology can be used to differentiate and personalize instruction.

Through author visits to the classroom, students learn that writing is challenging even for professionals.

Dr. Harris explains that schools need to do a better job of communicating with families about writing instruction and goals.

Dr. Harris discusses the complexities of effectively assessing student writing.

Dr. Harris discusses her professional development program that teaches educators about effective writing instruction.

Dr. Harris discusses how many teachers do not have a positive relationship with writing.

Biography

Karen R. Harris is the Mary Emily Warner Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. She has worked in the field of education for over 40 years, initially as a general education teacher and then as a special education teacher. Throughout her teaching and research career, she has chosen to work in highly diverse schools in low income areas due to her commitment to improving teaching and learning for all students. Her research focuses on informing and improving theory, research, and practice related to writing development among students with high incidence disabilities, students who struggle with writing, and normally achieving students.

Harris is interested in validating instructional approaches for heterogeneous classrooms. She developed the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model of strategies instruction. Her current research focuses on continued refinement of SRSD, development of new writing and reading strategies to address Common Core State Standards, practice-based professional development in SRSD for general and special educators (focusing on outcomes among both teachers and students), and on using technology to improve literacy instruction.

Former editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology, Dr. Harris was also senior editor of the American Psychological Association Educational Psychology Handbook (2012). She is the lead editor (along with Steve Graham) of the What Works for Special Needs Learners series published by Guilford Press. She is co-author or co-editor of 14 books and over 200 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and has served on editorial boards for journals in special education, educational psychology, and general education.

She is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the American Educational Research Association. She served as President of Division 15, Educational Psychology, of the American Psychological Association. She has served as President of the Division for Research of the Council for Exceptional Children and as an officer or committee member for the American Educational Research Association and the American Psychological Association.

Harris has also served on committees or panels for organizations, including the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the International Reading Association, and the International Society for the Advancement of Writing Research. She has received several awards including the Career Research Award from the International Council for Exceptional Children, the Samuel A. Kirk Award from the Division of Learning Disabilities, and the Distinguished Researcher Award from the Special Education Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association.

Books by this author

Powerful Writing Strategies for All Students

Powerful Writing Strategies for All Students

Steve Graham, Karen R. Harris, Linda Mason, Barbara Friedlander
Age Level:
Adult
Writing Better: Effective Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Difficulties

Writing Better: Effective Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Difficulties

Steve Graham, Karen R. Harris
Age Level:
Adult

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