Email
worthy@austin.utexas.edu
Office & Hours
Office: SZB 436A
Monday: 1-4
Wednesday: 1-4
Thursday: 1-4
Please email me for an appointment
Phone
(512) 565-8638
Fax
(512) 471-8460
Courses of Instruction
Research in Reading
Foundations of Educational Research
Methods of Reading Instruction
Reading Difficulties
The Importance of Interest in Learning and Life (Freshman Signature Course)
Mailing Address
The University of Texas at Austin
Curriculum & Instruction
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0379
UT Mail Code: D5700
Profile
Jo Worthy, a former elementary and middle school teacher, is in the language and literacy program area. She teaches classes focusing on literacy development, pedagogy, and research in the teacher preparation and graduate programs. Her major research and teaching interests are reading interests and preferences, alternatives to ability grouping, and bilingual education.
Education
PhD, University of Virginia
Representative Publications
Maloch, B., Worthy, J., Hampton, A., Jordan, M., Hungerford, H., & Semingson, P. (2013). Portraits of practice: A cross-Case analysis of two first grade teachers and their grouping practices. Research in the Teaching of English, 47, 277-312.
Worthy, J., Chamberlain, K., Peterson, K., Sharp, C., & Shuh, P. (2012). The importance of read-aloud and dialogue in an era of narrowed curriculum: Literature discussions in a second-grade classroom. Literacy Research and Instruction.
Worthy, J., Consalvo, A. L., Bogard, T., Russell, K. W., & Shipman, S. (2012). Restorying: Fostering academic and social growth in a primary literacy workshop: Elementary School Journal, 112, 568-589.
Worthy, J. (2010). Only the names have been changed: Ability grouping revisited. Urban Review, 42, 271-295.
Worthy, J. (2009). Tracking and ability grouping. In L. Christenson, R. Bomer, and P.Smagorinsky (Eds.). Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research. New York: Guilford.
Worthy, J., & Rodríguez, A. (2006). “Mi hija vale dos personas” (My daughter is worth two people): Latino immigrant parents’ perspectives about their children’s bilingualism. Bilingual Research Journal, 30, 579-601.
Recent Awards
- Elizabeth Shatto Massey Award for Excellence in Teacher Education, 2006-2007
Current Research Projects and Grants
Current Projects:
Spaces for dynamic bilingualism in literature discussions (with Leah Durán, Michiko Hikida, Katie Peterson, and Alina Pruitt)
Language practices and ideologies of fifth graders in a supportive bilingual classroom (with Michiko Hikida, Leah Durán, Alina Pruitt, and Molly Wiebe)
Research Interests and Expertise
Alternatives to Ability Grouping
Reading Interests and Preferences
Students Who Find School Challenging
Bilingual Education
Boards, Committees and Associations
- Co-editor of National Reading Conference (NRC) Yearbook: 2000-2006
- Editorial Review Boards: Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Research in the Teaching of English
- American Educational Research Association (AERA), Division C Secretary, 2006-2008
- AERA program chair for Division C, Section I, 2005-2006
- McCarthey-Dressman Educational Foundation, 1999-2013
- Associate Editor of Educational Researcher, 1998-2000