Dr. Sara Jones
Assistant Professor
Office
DEG Degarmo Hall 224
Office Hours
Upon request
Office Phone
Email
- About
- Education
- Awards & Honors
- Selected Research
Biography
Dr. Sara Jones is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Education--Literacy in the School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University. Her research focuses on exploring adolescent reading motivation in ways that are more humanizing, responsive, and culturally sustaining.
Current Courses
TCH 104.003 Introduction To Education In The United States
TCH 209.006 Literacy II:Reading & Language Arts In The Elementary School
TCH 469.001 Professional Research In Literacy Learning II
TCH 454.091 Selection & Use Of Materials In Secondary School Library
Teaching Interests & Areas
Literacy methods, critical issues in education, anti-racist/anti-bias teaching, teaching for social justice and equity
Research Interests & Areas
Adolescent reading motivation, Critical Race Theory, mixed methods
PhD Language, Literacy and Culture
Vanderbilt University, Peabody College
Nashville, TN
PhD Teaching and Learning, Major Area: Language, Literacy, and Culture
Vanderbilt University, Peabody College
M.Ed. (Master of Education) Urban and Minority Education
University of Maryland
College Park, MD
M.Ed. (Master of Education) Curriculum and Instruction, Major Area: Urban and Minority Education
University of Maryland, College Park
BA Elementary Education
Elon University
Elon, NC
BA Major Area: Elementary Education, Minor Area: Honors Curriculum
Elon University
Jasmine Ma Award
Department of Teaching & Learning Doctoral Student Association Vanderbilt University, Peabody College
2021
KIPP DC: Board Award Winner
KIPP DC: WILL Academy, Washington, D.C.
2015
Top 10 Under 10 Young Alumni Award
Elon University
2014
Book, Chapter
Monster, PI: Assessment to guide instruction
Amanda Goodwin, Yaacov Petscher, Dan Reynolds, Tess Lantos, K. Hughes, Sara Jones.
(2020)
Equity in elementary writing
Brian Kissel, Sara Jones.
Creative Works/Broadcast Media
What’s your superpower? A CRT professional resource recommendation: We got this, Cornelius Minor
Sara Jones.
(2019)
Newspaper, Article
This course uses “Abbott Elementary” to examine critical issues in urban education
Sara Jones.
(2023)
Other
REIMAGINING READING MOTIVATION AS A COLLECTIVE, CRITICAL ENDEAVOR: CENTERING THE PERSPECTIVES OF BLACK GIRL READERS
Sara Jones, others.
(2022)
Presentations
At what cost?: Researching representation in the Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum to repair curricular harm
Courtney Hattan, Alexandra Shelton, Sara Jones, Andrea Jamison.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, April, 2025
Repairing harm with heart and humor: Exploring Black women pre-service teachers’ engagement with Abbott Elementary
Sara Jones, Mariah Harmon.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, April, 2025
Innovative methodological approaches to literacy motivation research
Bong Gee Jang, Sarah Jerasa, Sara Jones.
Literacy Research Association’s 74th Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, December, 2024
Situative Black girlhood reading motivations: Understanding why and how Black girls read and comprehend text
Sara Jones.
Literacy Research Association’s 74th Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, December, 2024
Culturally oppressed: An analysis of how scripted curriculum undermines culturally responsive teaching practices
Andrea Jamison, Sara Jones.
International Conference on Urban Education Biennial Meeting, Cancun, Mexico, November, 2024
Pop culture and perceptions of urban public education: How “Abbott Elementary” changes hearts and minds
Sara Jones.
International Conference on Urban Education Biennial Meeting, Cancun, Mexico, November, 2024
Call to expand reading motivation constructs: Examining reading experiences of Black girls and #BookTok users
Sarah Jerasa, Sara Jones.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA., April, 2024
Examining representations of race, ethnicity, gender, and (dis)ability in the Core Knowledge Language Arts Curriculum
Courtney Hattan, Andrea Jamison, Sara Jones, Andrea Jamison.
National Council for Teachers of English Assembly for Research Conference, Austin, TX, February, 2024
I want to be a culturally responsive teacher, but I have to use this curriculum: Designing a tool to navigate the tension
Andrea Jamison, Sara Jones.
National Council for Teachers of English Assembly for Research Conference, Austin, TX, February, 2024
Centering Black girls in pursuit of culturally sustaining reading motivation
Sara Jones.
Literacy Research Association’s 73rd Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, December, 2023
Modern iterations of historical legacies: Black girls’ reading motivations link the past to the present
Sara Jones.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April, 2023
Developing the Culturally Sustaining Adolescent Reading Motivation Q-Sort as a tool for supporting “thick solidarity” in reading motivation research
Sara Jones.
National Council for Teachers of English Assembly for Research Conference, Davis, CA, March, 2023
Culturally sustaining adolescent reading motivation: Eliciting students’ perspectives to reimagine a hegemonic construct
Sara Jones.
International Conference on Urban Education Biennial Meeting, Cancun, Mexico, November, 2022
Definitional, conceptual and methodological challenges in adolescent theory, research, and practice
Sara Jones.
Literacy Research Association’s 72nd Annual Conference, Phoenix, AZ, November, 2022
Collaboration, skills integration, and liberation: How Black girls’ collective reading motivation redefines a prevalent concept
Sara Jones.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA/Virtual, April, 2022
What does reading motivation mean to you?: Employing artifact-elicited interview methods to center the perspectives of Black girl readers
Sara Jones.
National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Research, Virtual, February, 2022
“Being a community with reading”: Black Girls’ Collective Reading Motivation
Sara Jones.
Literacy Research Association’s 71st Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, December, 2021
Why is adolescent reading motivation so white?: Using CRT to review the research.
Sara Jones.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Virtual, April, 2021
Culturally sustaining adolescent reading motivation: Eliciting students’ perspectives to reimagine a hegemonic construct
Sara Jones.
10th Annual International Conference on Education and Social Justice, Virtual, December, 2020
The whitewashing of adolescent reading motivation: Using Critical Race Theory to reveal how research erases and marginalizes students of color
Sara Jones.
Literacy Research Association's 70th Annual Conference, Virtual, December, 2020
Researching adolescent reading motivation: Who is centered, who is rendered invisible, and why does it matter?
Sara Jones.
National Council of Teachers of English Assembly for Research, Nashville, TN, December, 2020
I am because we are: Black girls socially constructing a collective motivation through literacy
Sara Jones.
Literacy Research Association’s 69th Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, December, 2019
Students’ reading motivation as a collective endeavor: Problematizing commonly used measurement tools and reimagining an alternative
Sara Jones.
9th International Conference on Education and Social Justice, Honolulu, HI, November, 2019
The black girls' literacies framework in practice: When curriculum designed to resist dominant culture conflicts with commonly used tools
Sara Jones.
International Literacy Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, October, 2019
"Just because we're magic doesn't mean we're not real": Reimagining more humanizing representations in children's literature through student writing
Sara Jones.
International Literacy Association Intensive Conference, Las Vegas, NV, June, 2019