Dr. Sally Brown Education Associate Professor

Hello friends! The most important thing to know about me, is that I LOVE teaching, and I am passionate about ensuring all students have access to the world through literacy. When not working towards this goal, I love to hike and enjoy nature, travel with my family, do hard things, and enjoy time on our small, hobby farm. I have two amazing children and a very supportive husband, and we aim to center our work around our faith in God. I love working with impassioned students that want to make a difference in youth’s lives. Working with The College of Idaho students is truly a gift. They bring curiosity, passion, and dedication.

With approximately eight years of experience as a classroom teacher and approximately 14 years of experience training preservice teachers, I use the knowledge I gained in the classroom to guide my research and teacher training courses. Students note that my courses are “challenging” as Teaching Reading is Rocket Science (Moats, 2020)! I want my students to leave my classes as master future teachers of reading and writing!

I have developed and teach the Literacy Core Sequence, which includes Language & Literacy Development, Literacy in the Content Areas, and Literacy Assessment & Intervention. Introduction to Exceptional Learners, Writing Process & Assessment, Literature for Children & Adolescents, and the General Methods class for our master’s students are also courses that are part of my repertoire. Looking forward to having you aspiring teachers in my classes!

Dr. Sally Brown, an assistant professor of education, began her work at The College of Idaho in 2018. Aside from teaching, her research focus encompasses teacher knowledge, evidence-based literacy instruction, and intervention. Dr. Brown has also served as a member of the Idaho Comprehensive Literacy Plan, the Dyslexia Handbook, and dyslexia legislation workgroups, and was involved in revising the state literacy standards. As a member of Idaho’s Higher Education Literacy Partnership (IHELP), Dr. Brown, along with colleagues from around the state, are writing and revising the state literacy exams to guide institutions to better align their programs with the science of reading.

Finally, Dr. Brown presents at local, national, and international conferences and provides professional development for schools. In April 2023, she—along with two students—presented at the World Literacy Summit held at Oxford University. Their topic was Working to Teach Every Child to Read: Increasing Outcomes on Dual Fronts. Other recent presentation topics include Integrated Models of Reading Comprehension: Understanding to Impact Teaching—The Teacher’s Central Role; The Effects of Explicit Main Idea and Summarization Instruction on Comprehension; and Understanding the Science of Reading: Moving Knowledge to Practice. To sum up her passion, Dr. Brown’s mantra is the following…The greatest act we can do to improve equity in the world is to teach every child to read. And she will continue to work tirelessly towards this goal.