Hi! My name is Christy Austin. I am passionate about ensuring that ALL students have access to the supports needed to become literate. Literacy is what will enable our children to access and generate the information needed to make a more just society than the one we live in today. Two of three students cannot read grade-level material proficiently. There are plenty of available, evidence-based interventions addressing early word reading and spelling. However, many older struggling readers can read and spell single-syllable words, but continue to require intervention to learn to read and spell complex, multisyllabic words accurately and efficiently.
After multiple years of academic failure, most older struggling readers have complex needs across both decoding and language comprehension domains, and interventions tend to approach these two domains as separate and distinct skills. I am passionate about integrating research-based practices across multisyllabic word reading, spelling, and fluency instruction within research-based morphology, academic vocabulary, reading comprehension, sentence writing, and summarization writing. This integrated model addresses the full range of skill deficits demonstrated by older struggling readers. There is no silver bullet to students making meaningful reading and writing progress, but with effective professional development for teachers, carefully integrated, research-based lessons, and a lot of hard work, all students can become proficient readers.
My Journey
I am currently an assistant professor at the University of Utah in the Educational Psychology's Literacy, Language, and Learning program. I attended Trinity University, where I received a Humanities degree and was a two-time All-American college tennis player. I worked as a life skills special education teacher at Chase's Place, a tiny, non-profit, private school in Dallas, TX for students with moderate to severe developmental disabilities. This experience taught me that disability is often excluded from equity conversations.
This desire to support students with disabilities led me to pursue my master's degree in Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin, where I specialized in Learning Disabilities and Behavioral Disorders. After my master's degree I worked as a special education teacher, special education coordinator, and assistant principal at KIPP: Camino Academy, a charter school serving underserved communities in San Antonio, TX, and as a teacher at Rawson Saunders School, a private school for students with dyslexia in Austin, TX.
These experiences taught me that academic language is essential for older students, particularly those from historically-marginalized backgrounds, because the ability to read, write, and engage in academic discourse will empower all students to advocate for themselves, challenge systems of inequality, and fully participate in and shape society. Strong literacy skills enable individuals to communicate effectively in professional and academic settings, which is vital for gaining equitable access to opportunities and for fostering critical thinking that drives social change.
My belief that literacy is liberation led me to pursue my doctoral degree at the University of Texas at Austin, where I studied under Sharon Vaughn and refined my expertise in consuming, generating, and translating reading intervention research. These skills inform my work today.
Teachers have the power to change lives. Let's work together to help all students become literate and liberated.
