home » people » sharon vaughn

Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D.

Executive Director, MCPER

Director, Reading Institute

Director, Dropout Prevention Institute

H.E. Hartfelder/Southland Corp. Regents Chair

Professor, Department of Special Education:
Learning Disabilities/Behavior Disorders program

Research Interests and Expertise

Intervention research for students with learning problems and disabilities

Research Projects and Grants

  • Investigation of effective response to intervention practices for older students with reading difficulties and disabilities*
  • Enhancing the Quality of Expository Text Instruction and Comprehension Through Content and Case-Situated Professional Development, Institute of Education Sciences*
  • Optimizing Educational Outcomes for Spanish Speakers Who Are English Language Learners*
  • National Research and Development Center on English Language Learners*
*MCPER projects

Boards, Committees, and Associations

  • Board of Advisors, The University of Texas System, Institute for Public School Initiatives; Hispanic Family Literacy Center
  • Member, Council for Exceptional Children, International Reading Association, International Dyslexia Association, Learning Disabilities Association
  • Review Board, Journal of Educational Psychology, American Educational Research Journal, Exceptional Children, Journal of Learning Disabilities, Learning Disability Quarterly

  • Past president, Division for Learning Disabilities, Council for Exceptional Children

  • Previous editor in chief, Journal of Learning Disabilities

  • Previous co-editor, Learning Disabilities Research and Practice

Recent Awards

  • American Education Research Association, Special Education SIG, Outstanding Researcher Award
  • The University of Texas Dean's Award for Research

Representative Publications

Elbaum, B., Vaughn, S., Hughes, M. T., & Moody, S. W. (2000). How effective are one-to-one tutoring programs in reading for elementary students at risk for reading failure? Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(4), 605–619.

Vaughn, S., Cirino, P. T., Linan-Thompson, S., Mathes, P. G., Carlson, C. D., Cardenas Hagan, E., . . . Francis, D. J. (2006). Effectiveness of a Spanish intervention and an English intervention for English-language learners at risk for reading problems. American Educational Research Journal, 43(3), 449–487.

Vaughn, S., & Fuchs, L. S. (2003). Redefining learning disabilities as inadequate response to treatment: The promise and potential problems. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 18(3), 137–146.

Vaughn, S., & Linan-Thompson, S. (2004). Reading: Effective instructional activities for elementary students. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Vaughn, S., Linan-Thompson, S., & Hickman, P. (2003). Response to instruction as a means of identifying students with reading/learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 69(4), 391–409.