Rate My Professor Laura Jacobs

Laura E. Jacobs is an Assistant Professor of English Education in the Department of Secondary and Middle School Education at Towson University. She received her Ph.D. in Teacher Education and Learning Sciences with a specialization in English Education from North Carolina State University in 2022. She holds an M.Ed. in Literacy K-12 with a reading specialist license from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011 and a B.S. in Middle Grades Education with concentrations in Language Arts and Social Studies from East Carolina University in 2007. Before entering academia, Dr. Jacobs taught middle school language arts in Wake County, North Carolina. Her research specializations include incorporating young adult literature across content areas, book banning and censorship, anti-racist and anti-bias English education, scripted ELA curriculum, representative texts and curriculum in the English classroom, digital literacy, and technology. She teaches courses such as SCED 419: Young Adult Literature, SCED 357: Teaching English in the Secondary School, and SCED 461: Teaching Literacy in the Secondary Content Areas.

Dr. Jacobs serves as co-chair of the Association of Teacher Educators’ (ATE) Literacy Special Interest Group and is active in professional organizations including ATE, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), English Language Arts Teacher Educators (ELATE), and the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN). Her key publications include Young et al. (2024), 'In Conversation about GenAI in ELA Education: Initial Insights and Experiences from ELA Teachers and ELA Teacher Educators,' in Revolutionizing English Education: The Power of AI in the Classroom; Barker et al. (2023), 'Banish the Bans: The Teacher Educator’s Role in Promoting Book Access and Choice,' in The Journal of Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult Literature; Young et al. (2023), 'Teaching Diverse Young Adult Literature in Challenging Times: critical reflections and lessons learned,' in Handbook of Research on Race, Culture, and Student Achievement; and Lee, Jacobs, & Mann (2022), 'Writing with Dignity among Urban Youth: Using Mentor Texts as a Reflective Tool for Transformation,' in Urban Education. In 2023-2024, she received a $6,200 grant from the Kahlert Foundation for the project Diversity, Inclusion, and Representation through Environmental and Social Justice Young Adult Literature.