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Deborah McCutchen Professor, Educational Psychology College of Education Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Support 312G Miller Hall, Phone 206-616-6307 mccutch@u.washington.edu

Education Publications Courses Curriculum Vitae

My research focuses on cognitive processes underlying reading and writing ability. Shaping much of my writing research is a central question: How are complex systems of knowledge used during reading and writing? That question has played out in several ways as I have studied the influence of content knowledge and the constraints of working memory on writing. My reading research has ranged from basic research on the role of phonology in comprehension to more recent work on the subject-matter knowledge of reading teachers and the role of morphological processes in reading.

The ultimate goal of my research is two-fold -- to further theoretical understanding of reading and writing processes and to improve educational practice. It was my experience as a teacher of writing that sparked my interest in writing as a cognitive process.

My recent research is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences and examines the processes that enable children to expand their vocabulary through reading and develop further reading comprehension skills.

Deborah McCutchen (University of Pittsburgh, 1985) teaches graduate courses in the psychology of reading and writing, as well as human learning.

Education

Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 1985

Publications

Gray, A.L., & McCutchen, D. (2006). Young readers' use of phonological information: Phonological awareness, memory, and comprehension. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39, 325-333.

McCutchen, D. (2006). Cognitive factors in the development of children's writing. In C. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research (pp. 115-130). New York: Guilford Press.

McCutchen, D., Abbott, R. D., Green, L. B., Beretvas, S. N., Cox, S., Potter, N. S., Quiroga, T., & Gray, A. (2002). Beginning literacy: Links among teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and student learning. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 35, 69-86.

McCutchen, D., Harry, D. R., Cunningham, A. E., Cox, S., Sidman, S., & Covill, A. E. (2002). Reading teachers' knowledge of children's literature and English phonology. Annals of Dyslexia, 52. 207-228.

Courses

Recent Course Syllabus (in pdf format):

EDPSY 520 - Psychology of Reading, Winter Quarter 2005

Click here for a slide show orientation (in PowerPoint) prepared for the Psychology of Reading course.