Department of Teaching and Learning

Faculty

Sarah W. Beck

Associate Professor of English Education

Sarah W. Beck

Phone: 212-998 5473
Email:

Sarah W. Beck is Associate Professor of English Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at NYU Steinhardt. A former teacher of English and writing at both the high school and college levels, she obtained her doctorate in Human Development and Psychology with a focus on language and literacy development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2002, where she also worked in HGSE’s Teacher Education Programs as supervisor and instructor of student teachers. Since coming to NYU she has conducted research with NYC public school students and teachers on the teaching and learning of subject-specific literacy, and the nature of academic writing. Her research interests include the development, instruction, and assessment of literacy skills among adolescents; urban education; and the development of knowledge for teaching among in-service and pre-service teachers. Dr. Beck’s research has been published in Research in the Teaching of English, Educational Researcher, Journal of Literacy Research, Cambridge Journal of Education, Assessing Writing and the Yearbook of the National Reading Conference.


Selected Presentations

  • Beck, S.W. (2006). Students' understanding of goals for school-based writing: Linking the affective and the cognitive. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA: April 8, 2006.
  • Beck, S.W., Giordano, P. & Jeffery, J. V. (2006). "I just want them to write an essay": How teachers think about integrating literacy skills and content knowledge. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
  • Beck, S.W. (2005). Orientations to Literary Response: Attitudes and Processes. Paper presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, Miami, Florida: November 30-December 3, 2005.
  • Beck, S. W. & Jeffery, J. (2005). Genres of academic writing and of high-stakes assessment: Exploring the difference. Paper presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, Miami, Florida: November 30-December 3, 2005.
  • Beck, S.W. & McCallister, C. (2005). Enacting Literacy Learning Goals: How Teachers Guide Student Intentionality. Paper presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, Miami, Florida: November 30-December 3, 2005.
  • Beck, S.W. (2004). How writing extends students' reasoning about literature. Paper presented at the 94th Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English. Indianapolis, Indiana: November 18-24, 2004.
  • Beck, S. W. & Milne, C.M. (2004). The use of texts for thinking and learning in science. Paper presented at the 5th Annual Conference on Sharing Our Success in Urban Science and Math Teaching. New York, NY: May, 2004.

Degrees Held

  • A.B. Harvard College 1991
  • Ed.D. Harvard University 2002
  • M.F.A. Washington University 1993

Awards

  • Zirin Award
  • Steinhardt Research Challenge Fund Grant
  • Spencer Research Training Grant
  • 2004 : Spencer Foundation Small Grant
  • 2007 : NYU Research Challenge Fund Grant

Selected Publications

  • Beck, S. W. (2009). Composition across secondary and post-secondary contexts: Cognitive, textual and social dimensions. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39, 3, 311-327.
  • Llosa, L., Beck, S., & Zhao, G. (2011). An investigation of academic writing in secondary schools to inform the development of diagnostic classroom assessments. Assessing Writing, 16, 256-273.
  • Beck, S. W. (2009). Composition across secondary and post-secondary contexts: Cognitive, textual and social dimensions. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39, 3, 311-327.
  • Beck, S. W. (2009). Individual Goals and Academic Literacy: Finding a balance between authenticity and explicitness. English Education, 41, 3, 259-280.
  • Beck, S. & Jeffery, J. (2009). Genre and thinking in academic writing tasks. Journal of Literacy Research, 41, 2, 228-272.
  • Beck, S. W. (2008). Cultural variation in narrative competence and its implications for children's academic success. In A. Bailey, A. McCabe & G. Melzi (Eds). Research on the Development of Spanish-Language Narratives (pp. 332-350). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Beck, S. W. & Jeffery, J. (2007). Genres of high-stakes writing assessments and the construct of writing competence. Assessing Writing, 12, 1, 60-79.
  • Beck, S. (2006). Subjectivity and intersubjectivity in the teaching and learning of writing. Research in the Teaching of English, 40, 4, pp.
  • Beck, S., Coker, D.A., Hemphill, L. & Bellinger, D. (2002). Literacy Skills of Children with Early Corrective Heart Surgery. In J. Hoffman, D. Schallert, C. Fairbanks, J. Worthy, B. Maloch (Eds.) The 51st National Reading Conference Yearbook. Oak Creek, WI: National Reading Conference.
  • Beck, S. (2001). Editor's Review of Vygotskian Perspectives on Literacy Research: Constructing Meaning Through Collaborative Inquiry and Inside City Schools: Investigating Literacy in Multicultural Classrooms. Harvard Educational Review, 71, 2, 296-309.
  • Beck, S. & Nabors-Olah, L. (Eds.), (2001). Beyond the Here and Now: Perspectives on Language and Literacy. (Harvard Educational Review Reprint Series No. 35.) Cambridge, MA: President and Fellows of Harvard College.
  • Duke, N.K. & Beck, S. (1999). Education should consider alternative formats for the dissertation. Educational Researcher, 28, 3, 31-36.
  • Cazden, C. & Beck, S. W. (2003). Classroom discourse. In A. Graesser, M. Gernsbacher, & S. Goldman (Eds.) Handbook of Discourse Processes (pp. 165-198). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum..

Editorial Boards

  • 2004-present: Journal of Literacy Research, Editorial Board Member

Research Interests


  • writing instruction
  • writing assessment
  • adolescent literacy
  • urban education
  • equity issues in education
  • cultural contexts for literacy learning
  • academic discourse