Professor Michelle Kelley – Education at University of Central Florida

Professional Summary

Michelle Kelley is a Professor of Reading Education in the School of Teacher Education within the University of Central Florida's College of Community Innovation and Education. She joined the UCF faculty in 2004 through a Florida State Department Grant known as FLaRE. Her career at UCF progressed from Assistant Professor (2005-2011) to Associate Professor (2011-2019) and Professor since 2019. Kelley earned her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Florida in 2001, with a dissertation titled "A Cross-Case Analysis of Effective Reading Teachers of At-Risk Intermediate Students"; an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership from the University of Florida in 1999; an M.Ed. in Literacy Education from the University of Southern Maine in 1992; and a B.A. in History from the University of Maine in 1988. She currently serves as the facilitator for the Reading Education online M.Ed. Program, former Elementary Education Program Coordinator, founder and co-director of the UCF Reading Clinic, and Director of PedsAcademy, a partnership with Nemours Children’s Hospital to educate children with critical illnesses.

Her research specializations include reading comprehension, pre-service and in-service teacher knowledge of reading assessment and instruction, literacy coaching, metacognition, independent reading, literacy coach efficacy, and educator readiness for Artificial Intelligence in classrooms. Kelley's scholarship appears in journals such as The Reading Teacher, Reading Horizons, Literacy Research and Instruction, and Voices From the Middle, with over 20 publications since her promotion to professor in 2019. She has authored a book on literacy coaching published by Teachers College Press, four teacher resources with the International Literacy Association and Capstone Publisher, and numerous book chapters. As Co-Editor of Literacy Practice and Research since 2024 and former Co-Editor of Literacy Research and Instruction (2011-2017), she influences the field through editorial contributions and reviews for literacy journals and publishers. Her accolades include the Innovation in Teacher Education Award from the Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators (2022), Judy Richardson Literacy Legacy Award from the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (2021), multiple UCF Teaching Incentive Program Awards (2021-2022, 2015-2016, 2009-2010), UCF Faculty Fellow in Inclusion (2015-2016), and UCF College of Education Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (2009). Kelley presents regularly at international, national, and state conferences and holds leadership roles in organizations like the Organization of Teacher Educators in Literacy.