Amanda-Rigell
Current Program: Literacy Studies | Terminal Degree: PhD (expected Spring 2022) | Specialization: Literacy Education | Year of completion: 2022 | Thesis title: N/A
Current position: Theory and Practice in Teacher Education (TPTE) doctoral student and graduate teaching associate
Previous education: master’s in teacher education with a specialization in reading education (non-thesis option), which was completed in Fall 2016
Recent awards/recognitions:
- Shipley-Swann fellowship (University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT)) 2020-2021
- Chancellor’s citation for extraordinary professional promise (UT) 2020
- Chancellor’s award for excellence in graduate student teaching (UT) 2020
- Oscar Roy Ashley fellowship (UT) 2019-2020
- Wallace & Katie Dean graduate fellowship (UT) 2018-2019
Why did you choose to pursue your Master’s in Reading at UT?
After many years of feeling that I was almost where I wanted to be in my teaching, I had to be honest with myself and admit that I didn’t know enough about helping my middle grades students improve in reading and writing. I was able to provide them superficial tools I learned about in personal development (PD) sessions, but I didn’t have a strong enough theoretical background in literacy to teach as responsively as I needed to.
How did the course of study in reading education at the UT support you in your current role?
As part of my responsibilities as a graduate teaching associate, I teach REED 430, a course about elementary-grades reading instruction. The new understandings I gained through the master’s program have allowed me to support preservice teachers in growing their understanding of literacy instruction as I continue to refine my own.
Why should others consider attending the reading specialist courses and complete the certificate at UT?
I returned to the middle grades classroom during the final semester of my master’s coursework. That academic year and the following one, I saw my students’ reading and writing scores improve more than I had in previous years of teaching. I attribute the improvement in student growth directly to the understandings I gained during the master’s program about responsive instruction, the “leading edge” of students’ learning, and the fundamental processes of literacy.