Michael J. Kieffer (He/Him) studies the language and literacy development of students from linguistically diverse backgrounds. A former middle school teacher, he aims to conduct research that can inform instruction and policy to improve the reading outcomes of students in urban schools, especially multilingual learners. He has published over 50 articles, including longitudinal studies of the reading and language development of English learners, experimental evaluations of vocabulary instruction, and secondary analyses of large longitudinal datasets. Committed to interdisciplinarity, he collaborates widely with colleagues in other areas, including developmental psychology, applied statistics, special education, and educational policy. His research has received funding and awards from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Spencer Foundation, American Educational Research Association, and the International Reading Association
With a $1.4 million grant from the IES, he currently leads a mixed-methods, experimental study on whether and how heterogeneous grouping affects English learners' language, reading, and social network development. He is also an investigator on the $10-million IES-funded Center for the Success of English Learners, where he leads a strand of research on policies and system-level practices that constrain or enhance secondary English learners' access to the general curriculum. He also co-directs NYU's IES-funded Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Training program.
Dr. Kieffer's profile on Research Gate with selected full-text publications
