Rate My Professor Laurie Stowell

Laurie Stowell is a Professor Emerita of literacy in the School of Education at California State University, San Marcos, where she joined the faculty in 1992, shortly after the university's founding. Prior to her academic career, she taught middle school for eleven years in Columbus, Ohio. She earned her Ph.D. in language, literature, and reading from The Ohio State University. Stowell coordinates the Middle Level Education Multiple Subject Credential Program and has taught literacy courses in the middle level and elementary credential programs, children’s literature, and writing and assessment courses in the master’s program. She served as Director of the School of Education from January 2021 until the summer of 2024. In 2001, she founded and continues to direct the San Marcos Writing Project, an invitational professional development institute supporting K-12 teachers in enhancing student writing skills. She also co-directs Reading Through the Arts, a program initiated in 2001 that equips educators with strategies to use the arts for improving literacy in K-12 students. Additionally, Stowell has partnered with elementary, middle, and high school teachers in San Diego and Riverside Counties to develop and implement reading strategies and writing instruction.

Stowell’s research interests focus on writing, children’s and adolescent literature, and middle level literacy. Her publications appear in practitioner’s journals, teacher education journals, along with a co-authored book and book chapters designed for practicing teachers. She has delivered presentations at numerous state and national conferences. Her dedication to excellence in teaching and leadership earned her the Brakebill Award for Outstanding Professor of the Year at California State University, San Marcos in 1997, the CSU Wang Family Excellence Award in 2005, and the California Teachers of English Classroom Excellence Award in 2008. Through the Faculty Early Retirement Program, she remains active in supporting teacher development, particularly via the San Marcos Writing Project, now in its 25th year.