Editorial Team

Editors

Robert A. Griffin, Ed.D., is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood through Secondary Education at the University of West Georgia, where he teaches graduate-level courses in literacy education, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and diversity/inclusive education. Before moving into higher education full time, he served as a secondary English and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher for 13 years in rural south and urban north Georgia public schools. Dr. Griffin's primary research interests involve exploring reading motivation and achievement for bi/multilingual students, striving readers, and at-promise student groups and challenging deficit-oriented paradigms related to the skills and talents of diverse learners. In addition to serving as an editor of the Georgia Journal of Literacy (and former senior editor of GATESOL Journal), Dr. Griffin serves on editorial review boards for several journals in the fields of literacy education and TESOL. Dr. Griffin has published articles on topics ranging from quantitative analyses of reading motivation among adolescent native-Spanish-speakers to pedagogical pieces on authentic writing instruction and morphological awareness for culturally and linguistically diverse students. His work has appeared in journals such as Reading Psychology, the Journal of Latinos and Education, and the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.

Bethany L. Scullin, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Literacy in the Department of Early Childhood through Secondary Education. Bethany earned her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with Specializations in Literacy and Urban Education at Kent State University (2010-2014). Before coming to UWG, Bethany taught for ten years in southwest Florida in second, third, fourth, and fifth grade. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education (K-6) and Special Education (K-12) from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (2000) and a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of South Florida (2008). In addition to serving as co-editor of the Georgia Journal of Literacy, Dr. Scullin serves as Chair of the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates (GALA), a state affiliate of the International Literacy Association (ILA).  She is the current editor of FOCUS, the bi-yearly newsletter of the Georgia Association of Literacy Advocates, and she serves as an appointed member of the Notable Books for a Global Society book award committee.  Her line of research investigates how preservice teachers engage in race talk through self-reflection and discussion utilizing diverse children’s literature in order to normalize talking about race in their future elementary classrooms. Dr. Scullin’s work has appeared in journals such as the Middle School Journal, Texas Journal of Literacy Education, and Reading Psychology. 

Editorial Assistant

Hannah Best, M.Ed., is a dedicated high school English language arts (ELA) teacher at the Academy of Richmond County, Augusta, GA, where she is committed to building equitable, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive learning environments for all students. As a Ph.D. student in Literacy, Language, and Culture at Clemson University, Hannah brings four years of dynamic and unique classroom experience in the greater Augusta, GA, area. Her work is focused on merging practice and research to increase literacy outcomes for at-risk and multilingual youths. Passionate about trauma-sensitive pedagogy and innovative educational practices, Hannah incorporates emotional resilience frameworks and integrated literacy strategies into her ELA classes to ensure her students develop a love for literacy and a resilient lens with which to approach the world.

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Editorial Review Board

Dr. Jennifer K. Allen, University of West Georgia

Dr. Donna E. Alvermann, University of Georgia

Dr. Kim Stevens Barker, Augusta University

Dr. Alexandra Lampp Berglund, Georgia College and State University

Dr. William P. Bintz, Kent State University

Dr. Debra Coffey, Kennesaw State University

Dr. Jennifer Curl, University of West Georgia

Dr. Kathleen Crawford, Georgia Southern University

Dr. Fuling Deng, University of Glasgow (UK)

Dr. Jennifer Graff, University of Georgia

Dr. Daphne Greenberg, Georgia State University

Dr. Mary Guay, University of Georgia

Dr. Heather Huling, Georgia Southern University

Dr. Virginie Jackson, Kennesaw State University

Dr. Xiaomeng Li, Western Washington University

Dr. Rachel Linn, West Georgia Regional Library System

Dr. Vicki Luther, Mercer University

Dr. Joyce E. Many, Georgia State University

Dr. Nicole Maxwell, University of North Georgia

Dr. Diana Mindrila, University of West Georgia

Dr. Rebecca H. Owen, Gordon County Schools (GA)

Dr. Timothy V. Rasinski, Kent State University

Dr. Leslie D. Roberts-Chala, Georgia Southern University

Dr. Danielle Sachdeva, University of North Georgia

Dr. Ryan Schey, University of Georgia

Dr. Kristie W. Smith, Kennesaw State University

Dr. Lina Soares, Georgia Southern University

Dr. Alma D. Stevenson, Georgia Southern University

Dr. Anastasia Stoops, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Dr. Shannon Tovey, Kennesaw State University

Dr. Kinga Varga-Dobai, Georgia Gwinnett College

Dr. Elizabeth VanDeusen, Augusta University

Dr. Sarah Williams, University of North Georgia