Chandra L. Alston

Assistant Professor

Chandra L. Alston’s research focuses on the teaching of writing in secondary schools and improving teacher training around writing. As a former high school English teacher, her research centers around schools and classrooms focusing on ways to improve teaching and learning. Her most recent work investigates the practices of teachers with higher value-added measures of student achievement and their impact on writing development and academic affiliation among struggling writers in predominantly minority school settings. Her other interests include adolescent literacy, teacher education, and teacher practices that cultivate student persistence and engagement. She received her PhD in curriculum and teacher education from Stanford University.

Alston teaches courses in the following program(s): Joint Program in English and Education; Secondary Teacher Education; Literacy, Language, and Culture .

Selected Publications

Alston, C.L. (in press). Higher Value-Added Instruction and Writing Development with African-American Middle School Students. Submitted to Research in the Teaching of English.