The University of Iowa

Deborah K. Reed, Ph.D.

Dr. Deborah Reed
Professor and Director

Deborah K. Reed became the director of the Tennessee Reading Research Center and joined the faculty as the senior literacy scholar at the University of Tennessee in 2022. She was the director of the Iowa Reading Research Center from 2015–2022.

Reed spent the first 10 years of her career as an English language arts and reading teacher as well as a reading specialist, working primarily with students exhibiting serious reading difficulties. Since 2003, she has been a researcher and technical assistance provider in numerous states. She has published extensively and continues to research methods for improving reading instruction and assessment, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Recent Blog Posts

Father and son reading

Learning English With Your Children and Teens: Focus on Language Development During Shared Reading

Keep characteristics like rhyming and other language elements in mind when selecting and reading aloud a book together.
Teacher reading aloud to three students

Incorporating Oral Language Learning Throughout the School Day

Take three basic steps to implicitly and explicitly teach language to help develop this foundational skill for young students.
Teacher with reading program materials in front of class

Is It the Materials or the Instruction That Make For a Good Reading Program?

Read why teaching in an explicit, systematic way with differentiation is at the heart of the best performing reading programs.