Mary Beth Schaefer

Associate Professor

EdD, Literacy, University of PennsylvaniaMA, Supervision and Administration, Texas Woman's UniversityMA, English Literature, Queens College (CUNY)BA, Secondary Education, Queens College City University of New York

Mary Beth Schaefer is Associate Professor of Adolescent Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. Her passion is the middle grades, and she has been an active MLER SIG member since 2010. Her recent work inside of the SIG includes helping to draft a new version of the Research Agenda. Schaefer was a middle grades English teacher for five years in New York City and five years in Plano, Texas and currently teaches graduate-level courses focused on middle grades teaching and learning. Recent publications include articles in Research in Middle Level Education, The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, English Teaching: Practice & Critique ,and Middle Grades Review. Other recent outlets include Urban Education, Middle School Journal and a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Young Adult Literature (forthcoming). Her research interests include adolescent literacies; middle grade students’ college and career readiness; and martial arts literacies in the middle grades. She was a recent co-guest editor for The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (Nov/Dec 2022) and co-edited a book on parent-child research (2020).

Teaching Interests

Literacy Acquisition and Development
Developing Effective Strategies to Teach English Methods
Middle School Teaching Methods
Understanding the Middle Level Learner

Research Interests

*College and Career Readiness in Secondary Schools
*Middle Grades
*Literary Responses and Understandings among Young Adolescents
*Martial Arts and Literacy
*College-School Partnerships

Courses Taught

EDU

1012

LANG AQUISITION& LITERACY/ADOL

EDU

1094

INNOV STRAT SEC SET: FOR LANG

EDU

1096

INNOV STRAT SEC SET: ENGLISH

EDU

7106

UNDERSTAND MIDDLE GR LEARNER

EDU

7107

METHODS OF TEACHING MIDDLE GR

EDU

7195

TEACHING & LEARNING: CHILDHOOD

EDU

7295

TEACHING & LEARNING ADOLESCENT

EDU

7296

INNOV STRAT SEC SET: ENGLISH

EDU

8010

DISSERTATION SEMINAR

EDU

8013

ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS

Select Publications

Journal Articles

Solomon, S., and Schaefer, M. (2019). From the Schoolyard to the Campus: Helping Middle Grades Students See Themselves as Future College Students. Westerville, Ohio: Middle School Journal. vol. 50, pp. 33-41.

Schaefer, M. B. (2017). Middle Grades Students' Understandings of What it Means to Read in a High-Stakes Environment. Newark, Delaware: Journal of Adult & Adolescent Literacy. vol. 61, pp. 247-256.

Schaefer, M., Malu, K. F., and Yoon, B. (2016). An Historical Overview of the Middle School Movement (1963-2015). Milton Park, Abingdon/Taylor& Francis Group: Research in Middle Level Education/Taylor & Francis. vol. 39, pp. 1-27.

Schaefer, M., and Rivera, L. M. Educational Experiences that Matter to Seniors Graduating From an Urban Early College High School. SAGE publications: Urban Education. pp. 38 .

Yoon, B., Malu, K. F., Schaefer, M., Reyes, C., and Brinegar, K. (2015). Comprehensive and Critical Review of Middle Grades Research and Practice: 2000-2013.. Charlotte, North Carolina: Middle Grades Research Journal/Information Age Publishing. vol. 10, pp. 1-16.

Schaefer, M., and Rivera, L. M. (2014). Working Collaboratively in a Small Secondary School to Facilitate Career Development. Ashland, Ohio/Ashland University: American Secondary Education. vol. 43, pp. 51-68.

Schaefer, M., and Rivera, L. M. (2014). "Just Chillin' on the Quad:" Middle Grades Students in College. Charlotte, North Carolina: Middle Grades Research Journal/Information Age Publishing. vol. 9, pp. 91-107.

Schaefer, M., and Cannova, T. (2014). Navigating Service in Untenured Waters: What it Means to be a Service-Learning Mentor. Greensboro, North Carolina/University of North Carolina: Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement. vol. 5, pp. 4-23.

Schaefer, M. (2014). Facilitating College Readiness through Campus Life Activities.. Milton Park, Abingdon: Research in Middle Level Education Online. vol. 37, pp. 1-19.

Schaefer, M., and Rivera, L. M. (2013). The Prickly Embrace of Engaged Scholarship: What it means to do Research in an Urban Secondary School. Tamara Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry. vol. 11, pp. 67-78.

Schaefer, M. (2013). High Stakes: Teaching Against the Test in an Urban ELA Classroom. Albany, New York: The English Record. vol. 63, pp. 1-43.

Schaefer, M., and Rivera, L. M. (2012). College and Career Readiness in the Middle Grades. Charlotte, North Carolina: Middle Grades Research Journal/Information Age Publishing. vol. 7, pp. 51-66.

Schaefer, M. (2011). Becoming a Good Teacher: Struggles from the Swampland. Voices from the Middle/National Council of Teachers of English. vol. 19, pp. 41-45.

Schaefer, M., and Rivera, L. M. (2011). Partnering for College and Career Readiness. Academic Exchange Quarterly. vol. 15, pp. 131-136.

Schaefer, M., Rivera, L. M., and Ophals, E. (2010). Creating a Collaborative Career Development Program for Middle School Students. Middle School Journal/Association for Middle Level Education. vol. 42, pp. 30-38.

Books Chapters

Lemley, S., and Schaefer, M. (2018). Literacy as a Tool for Integrating Curriculum in the Middle Grades. In: Literature reviews in support of the Middle Level Education Research Agenda (pp. x-x). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.. Charlotte, NC: pp. 111-154.

Schaefer, M., and Malu, K. F. (2015). Directions for Future Research: Young Adolescents and Literacy. In: Research on Teaching and Learning with the Literacies of Young Adolescents. Charlotte, North Carolina: pp. 267-273.

Malu, K. F., and Schaefer, M. (2015). Introduction to Teaching and Learning with Young Adolescents. In: Research on Teaching and Learning with the Literacies of Young Adolescents. Charlotte, North Carolina: pp. xxiii-xxvi.

Others

Schaefer, M., and Rivera, L. M. College and Career Readiness. In: The Encyclopedia of Middle Grades Education (2nd ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.