Miranda Fitzgerald

Miranda S. Fitzgerald is an Assistant Professor in the department of Reading and Elementary Education. Prior to completing her Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, Dr. Fitzgerald was a middle school special education teacher in Central Kentucky, where she taught English language arts and reading intervention courses, and collaboratively taught with content area teachers across disciplines. Her research focuses on investigating and improving learning environments that integrate meaningful uses of literacy and disciplinary instruction, instruction that develops students’ reading comprehension and skills that are foundational to building reading comprehension, and supports for pre- and in-service teachers to learn and use research-based instructional practices in literacy. In 2023, Dr. Fitzgerald was awarded the Cato College of Education Early Career Faculty Award. Her work has been published in Education Sciences, Tech Trends, Reading Research Quarterly, and Review of Research in Education. At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Fitzgerald teaches courses on elementary literacy instruction and assessment.

Education
Ph.D., Educational Studies: Literacy, Language, and Culture – University of Michigan, 2018
M.A., Special Education: Learning and Behavior Disorders – Georgetown College, 2011
B.S., Psychology – University of Evansville, 2008

Teaching
Assessment, Design, and Implementation of Classroom Reading Instruction
Literacy Assessment and Tiered Interventions
Applied Literacy and Practices 

Research Interests/Areas of Expertise
Elementary literacy instruction and assessment; integration of literacy and science instruction; reading comprehension and vocabulary instruction; pre- and in-service teacher education

Awards and Honors
2023 – Cato College of Education Early Career Faculty Award
2019 – American Educational Research Association Special Interest Group in Research in Reading and Literacy Graduate Student Award for Literacy Excellence
2019 – University of Michigan Educational Studies Stanley E. And Ruth B. Dimond Best Dissertation Award

Involvement
Dr. Fitzgerald provides professional development in elementary literacy education for educators and instructional leaders, and serves as a consultant to a variety of education and policy studies organizations.

Recent Publications

Putman, S. M., Polly, D., & Fitzgerald, M. S. (2025). Moving from the periphery to practitioner: Investigating the development of a community of practice within a year-long clinical experience. Journal of Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/00224871251321898 

Fitzgerald, M. S. (2024). Pedagogies that integrate reading and science as a resource for hope in primary-grade classrooms: Cultivating disciplinary knowledge with science text and investigation [School Pedagogies as Resources for Hope]. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1554480X.2024.2397536

Fitzgerald, M. S. & Evans, K. B. (2024). Integrating digital tools to enhance access to learning opportunities in project-based science instruction [Leveraging Technology to Support Access to Learning Opportunities]. TechTrends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning, 68(5), 882-891. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-024-00975-w

Fitzgerald, M. S., & Palincsar, A. S. (2024). Designing and situating text to promote textual dexterity in the context of project-based science instruction [Power of literacy: Strategies for effective reading instruction]. Education Sciences, 14(9), 960. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14090960

Fitzgerald, M. S., & Palincsar, A. S. (2024). Screech owls, Super Soakers, and school gardens [Motivation and Engagement]. Phi Delta Kappan, 105(5), 26-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/00317217241230781

Cervetti, G. N., Fitzgerald, M. S., Hiebert, E. H., & Hebert, M. (2023). Meta-analysis examining the impact of vocabulary instruction on vocabulary knowledge and skill. Reading Psychology, 44(6), 672-709. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2023.2179146

Fitzgerald, M. S. (2023). Facilitating the interplay of text and experience in scientific inquiry [Supporting Science Literacies]. Language Arts, 100(4), 282-294.

Washburn, E. K., Gesel, S. A., Fitzgerald, M. S., Beach, K. D., & Kingsbery, C. R. (2023). The impact of a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to summer literacy intervention on the K-3 reading skills of economically and culturally diverse students. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 39(6), 510-529.  https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2022.2147463

Fitzgerald, M. S., Bismack, A. S., Gotwals, A. W., Wright, T. S., & Washburn, E. K. (July/August 2022). Modeling, reading, and talking, oh my! Using multiple modes to support sensemaking and scientific literacy in the early elementary grades [Fostering Scientific Literacy]. Science and Children, 59(6), 27-32.

Putman, S. M., Polly, D., & Fitzgerald, M. S. (2022). Innovative school-university partnerships: Insights and understandings from a year-long internship. PDS Partners: Bridging Research to Practice, 17(1), 31-37.