Rate My Professor Sally Larsen

Dr. Sally Larsen is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of New England, Australia, and serves as Head of the Department of Early Childhood Education. She earned her PhD from the University of New England in 2022, a Master of Education in Teacher-librarianship from Queensland University of Technology in 2011, a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) from the University of Queensland in 2004, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and French from the University of Queensland in 2002. Prior to her current role, Larsen worked as a secondary school teacher of English and French, a research project manager, and a researcher in a government agency. Her career at the University of New England includes contributions to research groups such as Early Childhood, Psychology and Wellbeing in Schools, and the Academic Development Study of Australian Twins.

Larsen's research specializes in reading and mathematics development across primary and early secondary school years in Australia, investigating patterns of growth and change, predictors of longitudinal development, and the measurement of educational constructs. She employs quantitative methodologies, including longitudinal and multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, and behavior genetics approaches. Her work examines NAPLAN data longitudinally, school sector differences, delayed school entry effects, and the co-development of reading and attention. Notable awards include the Australian Association for Research in Education Early Career Researcher Conference Paper Award in 2023, the University of New England Chancellor’s Doctoral Research Medal in 2022, and the Society for the Scientific Studies of Reading Taylor and Francis Award in 2020. Key publications encompass 'Are Australian students’ academic skills declining? Interrogating 25 years of national and international standardised assessment data' (Australian Journal of Social Issues, 2024), 'Matthew Effects in reading and mathematics: Examining developmental patterns in population data' (Contemporary Educational Psychology, 2023), 'Developmental patterns of vocabulary and reading comprehension from age 4 to 14: A sequential latent growth model design' (2024), 'The co-development of reading and attention from middle childhood to early adolescence: A multivariate latent growth curve study' (Developmental Psychology, 2022), and 'Exploring the associations between delayed school entry and achievement in primary and secondary school' (Child Development, 2021).