Dr. Laurie Kingsley is a Teaching Professor of Literacy in the College of Education & Human Development at the University of Missouri, and currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Teacher Education.  She teaches literacy courses in the Senior Year On-Site Program (SYOSP) for Elementary Education majors. Laurie works with teachers and educators around the state to help them examine their teaching practices and assist in program development.

Laurie has spent two decades in the field of education, working as a consultant in Missouri school districts and classrooms. She has worked diligently to improve both continuing education for teachers and the quality of literacy instruction for children in schools.  She has developed dozens of specialized workshops and in-service programs designed to meet the varying literacy needs of each building, has helped hundreds of teachers to identify areas of need in their existing literacy work, and has helped guide them as they modify their practice.  Her work in this area has been on-going, on-site work in classrooms with a focus on effective ways to assess and gather data regarding student strengths and needs that can then be used to inform and strengthen instruction and student learning.

Laurie’s research interests have focused on preservice and inservice teacher education, looking at influences on teacher beliefs, knowledge, and practice. Laurie is currently studying impacts of student teaching models on preservice teacher development, and is interested in the impact of politics and policies on literacy education.

She is an editorial review board member for the International Literacy Association journal, Literacy Research: Theory, Methods and Practice, is the faculty supervisor for the student reading association, and has been recognized with several teaching awards.

Areas of Expertise

• Preservice and inservice teacher education
• Influences on teacher beliefs, knowledge, and practice
• Impact of politics and policies on literacy education
• Diversification of the teaching profession