Susan De La Paz

Dr. De La Paz's scholarship in adolescent literacy intersects the fields of special education, history education and science education through the study of written argumentation. Her research spans both learning to write and writing to learn – and is driven by the need for effective instructional strategies for teachers to facilitate students' planning, translating ideas, and revising skills, as well as to support their use of writing to develop conceptual, epistemic and disciplinary understanding in academic subjects. A consistent theme throughout her research has been the search for stronger and more effective interventions that improve adolescent literacy, especially for those students who struggle due to disability or poor literacy skills —given the diversity in today’s public school classrooms, this includes significant percentages of students who are at risk for school failure or limited post secondary outcomes. Her research has been informed by many colleagues in social studies, science and special education and has yielded several general and disciplinary writing interventions as well as contributed new understandings about cognitive processes underlying effective writing.