My mission is to bridge research and practice to improve adolescent literacy at scale. I lead research‑practice partnerships that unite scholars, educators, and districts to design, test, and implement innovative, evidence‑based solutions.
My mission is to bridge the gap between research and practice, ensuring middle and high school students harness their full literacy and learning potential.
I am dedicated to realizing this vision through my teaching, instructional leadership, and rigorous research. My active involvement in research-practice collaborations underscores my commitment to uniting diverse stakeholders in addressing educational inequities and supporting diverse learners.
11/2025 "Read beyond speed: Diverging effects of lexical dimensions in speed and accuracy." [Poster Session]. Psychonomic Society, Denver, CO, USA. Knoph, R. E., Lawrence, J. F., Kulesz, P. A., & Francis, D. J. Poster here.
03/2026 "Children's Chengyu (成语) Knowledge as a Pathway to Vocabulary Growth: Evidence from a Novel Idiom Assessment." Oral Session 4 (Topic: Linguistics), ARWA 2026, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Lawrence, J.F., Hagen, Å., & Yang, J.
07/2026 "Task, learner, and word: A tripartite view of vocabulary assessment outcomes." [Panel Contribution]. Supporting vocabulary growth: Cognitive processes, strategic instruction, and assessment across elementary and middle grades. Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR) Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Lawrence, J. F., Knoph, R., Kulesz, P. A., & Francis, D. J.
Lawrence, J. F., Galloway, E. P., & Hsu, J. Y. L. (2025). Estimating the effect of structured vocabulary review: an experimental evaluation. The Elementary School Journal, 126(1), 82–106. https://doi.org/10.1086/736758
Lawrence, J.F. (2025, April). Cognitive and Affective Alignment in Teacher Learning: What We Can Learn from NLP and Coach Ratings. UC Irvine Center for Research on Teacher Development and Professional Practice, Irvine, CA.
Lawrence, J., Knoph, R., & Hagen, Å. (2025). The Language of Learning: Academic Vocabulary Development and Comprehension. In S. B. Neuman & M. R. Kuhn (Eds.), Handbook on the Science of Literacy in Grades 3-8 (pp. 80–98). Routledge. https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3350708
