Elizabeth Moje, associate dean for research and community engagement in the School of Education, has been elected to the National Academy of Education for her contributions to educational research and policy development.

She is one of 14 researchers in the new class of members and the 10th from U-M to be named to the academy.

Moje, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in SoE, also serves as a faculty associate in the Institute for Social Research, Latino/a Studies Program and Joint Program in English and Education.

She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in secondary and adolescent literacy, literacy and cultural theory, and qualitative and mixed research methods. Her current research focuses on communities and schools in Detroit, with particular emphasis on literacy acquired in school, cultural and community settings. She also engages in professional development with teachers in Detroit and across the country.

Moje is an expert on school curriculum and outcomes, recently serving as a witness in a class-action lawsuit that sought to enforce a 1993 Michigan law that requires schools to ensure a level of reading proficiency in grades four and seven. The suit, filed by the ACLU, said the Highland Park School District was obligated to make sure students could read.

With her colleague Robert Bain, Moje developed a program called Teaching and Learning the Disciplines Through Clinical Practice Rounds. The project — which borrows the idea of rounds from medical and nursing training — prepares secondary school history and social studies teachers, who learn best practices and teaching literacy as they rotate through a series of closely supervised clinical experiences. The project was honored with a Teaching Innovation Prize, awarded by the Office of the Provost.

Moje has published three books and several book chapters, as well as articles in numerous professional journals.

She has been a member of several national boards and committees, currently serving on the National Academy of Science Committee on Literacy for Science; the International Reading Association’s Literacy Research Panel; the William T. Grant Foundation’s Scholar Selection Committee; as president of National Conference on Research on Language and Literacy; and as incoming vice president for the division on Social Contexts of Education of the American Educational Research Association.

Founded in 1965, the National Academy of Education includes U.S. members and foreign associates who are elected on the basis of outstanding scholarship related to education. Members serve on expert study panels that address pressing issues in education and they engage in professional development programs.