Megin Charner-Laird

Megin Charner-Laird received her master's and doctorate from Harvard University. During her time at Harvard, she was the director of the school's undergraduate teacher education program. Prior to her graduate studies, Megin taught elementary school in California's Baby Area. Megin's research looks at teachers' experiences of school-based professional learning; effective models of school leadership; and how teacher leadership can serve as a lever for school change. 

Interests: School Reform, Urban Schools, Teacher Learning and Support, Teacher Leadership, Instructional Leadership.

• Visit me on Twitter: @drcharnerlaird

• Co-Director for Center for Educational Leadership, at Salem State (CEL@SSU)
• Program Co-Director, Educational Leadership (CAGS & Teacher Leadership). See online program information here.
• Lead Faculty for Assessment, School of Education, Salem State University

Charner-Laird, M., Ippolito, J., Noonan, J. (2021). Can distance bring us closer? Developing new routines for connection in a leadership preparation program. The Learning Professional. 

Dobbs, C. L., Ippolito, J., & Charner-Laird, M. (2020). Disciplinary literacy: Exemplary processes and promising practices. In E. Ortlieb, S. Grote-Garcia, J. Cassidy, & E. H. Cheek (Eds.), What’s hot in literacy: Exemplar models of effective practice (Literacy Research, Practice and Evaluation, Vol. 11) (pp. 17-31). Emerald Publishing Limited.  https://doi.org/10.1108/S2048-045820200000011005

Ippolito, J., Dobbs, C. L., & Charner-Laird, M. (2020). Middle and high school literacy programs: Attending to both instructional and organizational challenges. In A. Swan Dagen, & R. M. Bean (Eds.), Best practices of literacy leaders: Keys to school improvement (2nd Ed.) (pp. 187-208). New York: Guilford Press.

Nehring, J. H., Szczesiul, S. A., & Charner-Laird, M. (2020). Bridging the progressive-traditional divide: A unifying vision for teaching, learning, and system level supports. New York: Routledge.

Nehring, J. H., Charner-Laird, M., & Szczesiul, S. A. (2019). Redefining Excellence: Teaching in Transition, From Test Performance to 21st Century Skills. NASSP Bulletin, 103(1), 5–31. 

Ippolito, J., Dobbs, C. L., & Charner-Laird, M. (2019). Disciplinary literacy inquiry and instruction: A teachers’ guide to implementing disciplinary literacy. West Palm Beach, FL: Learning Sciences International.

Ippolito, J., Dobbs, C. L., & Charner-Laird, M. (2018). Investing in implementation: Professional learning mechanisms for stronger disciplinary literacy instruction. Literacy Today, 35(4), 16-17.

Charner-Laird, M., Ng, M., Johnson, S. M., Kraft, M. A., Papay, J. P., Reinhorn, S. K. (2017). Gauging Goodness of Fit: Teachers’ Assessments of their Instructional Teams in High-Poverty Schools. American Journal of Education.

Dobbs, C. L., Ippolito, J., & Charner-Laird, M. (2017). Investigating disciplinary literacy: A framework for collaborative professional learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Ippolito, J., Condie, C., Dobbs, C. L., Charner-Laird, M., & Blanchette, J. (2017). Planting seeds: To grow science disciplinary literacy skills we must layer basic and intermediate literacy skills across K–12. Massachusetts Reading Association Primer, 45(2), 14-23.

Nehring, J. H., Charner-Laird, M., & Szczesiul, S. A. (2017). What real high performance looks like. Phi Delta Kappan 98 (7), 38-42.

Ippolito, J., Dobbs, C. L., & Charner-Laird, M. (2017). What literacy means in math class: Teacher team explores ways to remake instruction to develop students' skills. The Learning Professional, 38(2), 66-70. 

“Becoming a community of novices: How teacher agency bolstered professional learning in a pandemic context” (with Noonan, J., Ippolito, J., & Dobbs, C. L.) [Paper session]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. April 2022.

“The role of agency: Teachers, administrators, and caregivers navigate the COVID-19 pandemic” (with Dobbs, C. L., Leider, C. M., Uy, P. S., Ippolito, J., & Szczesiul, S. A. [Paper session]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. April 2022.

“Understanding the systems, structures, and leadership that support disciplinary literacy professional learning in a middle school context” (with Ippolito, J. & Dobbs, C. L.) [Paper session]. Literacy Research Association’s Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA. December, 2021.

“Building collective expertise within teacher teams” [Paper session]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA (Conference Canceled). April 2020.

“Windows into disciplinary literacy collaborative inquiry: What improvements do teacher teams explore?” (with Dobbs, C. L., & Ippolito, J.) [Paper Session]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA (Conference Canceled). April 2020

“The Massachusetts Innovation School Policy and the Missed Opportunity for Radical Change” (with Szczesiul, S.) [Paper Session]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA (Conference Canceled). April 2020

“Preservice teachers’ perceptions of professional agency following a graduate course on research, inquiry, and advocacy” (with Duhaylongsod, L. & Pomerantz, F. K.) [Paper Session] Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA (Conference Canceled). April 2020

“Building K-12 disciplinary literacy instruction through teacher inquiry” (with Ippolito, J. & Dobbs, C. L.) Presented at the International Literacy Association’s Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA. October 2019

“Disciplinary literacy K-12: Connecting adult & student learning” (with Ippolito, J. & Dobbs, C. L.) Presented at the Annual Learning Sciences Building Expertise Conference, Orlando, FL. June 2019.

“Moving towards joint work: Collaborating across disciplines on disciplinary literacy instructional practices at the middle school level” (with Ippolito, J. & Dobbs, C. L.). Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada. April 2019

“Considering the possibility of disciplinary literacy as a critical construct” (with Dobbs, C. L. & Ippolito, J.). Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Canada. April 2019

“Looking back and looking forward at disciplinary literacy: Connecting inquiry and instruction” (with Ippolito, J. & Dobbs, C. L.). Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Reading Association, Quincy, MA. April 2019

“A framework for understanding how teachers approach disciplinary literacy inquiry” (with Dobbs, C. L. & Ippolito, J.). Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Literacy Research Association, Indian Wells, CA. November 2018

“Wraparound supports for excellent teachers” (with Szczesiul, S. A. & Nehring, J. H.) Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY, April 2018.

“Trauma-sensitive teaching practices in urban classrooms” (with Szczesiul, S. A. & Nehring, J. H.) Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY, April 2018.

“What happens when interdisciplinary teams of teachers tackle ‘disciplinary literacy’ instruction?” (with Ippolito, J. & Dobbs, C. L.). Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY, April 2018.

“What do we mean when we say disciplinary literacy? Exploring a messy construct” (with Dobbs, C. L. & Ippolito, J.) Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY, April 2018.

“The professional learning needed to connect K-12 disciplinary literacy instruction” (with Ippolito, J. & Dobbs, C. L.) Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Reading Association, Quincy, MA, April 2018.

“Rediscovering citizenship through disciplinary and cross-disciplinary literacy work” (with Ippolito, J. & Dobbs, C. L.) Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Literacy Research Association, Tampa, FL, November 2017.

 “Toward a more detailed model of professional learning within disciplinary literacy professional learning projects” (with Dobbs, C. L. & Ippolito, J.). Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX, April, 2017.

“Positing a theoretical model for teacher-led collaborative professional learning” (with Dobbs, C. L. & Ippolito, J.). Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX, April, 2017.

“Virtuoso at work: What schools and systems can learn from excellent teachers” (with Nehring, J. H. & Szczesiul, S. A.). Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX, April, 2017.

“How school context mediates the enactment of teacher beliefs in urban schools” (with Nehring, J. H. & Szczesiul, S. A.). Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX, April, 2017.