Professor, Literacy Education
Middle, Secondary, and Math Education

Mark Lewis is professor of literacy education at James Madison University. His research interests include examining and critiquing representations of adolescence and youth in young adult and adult literature, defining the multifaceted literary competence of secondary students, and identifying effective ways to support linguistically diverse learners. Prior to coming to JMU, he taught middle school English and English as a second language in Arizona, and worked with American Indian high school students in Colorado. Dr. Lewis has over 30 publications, including multiple book chapters and in scholarly journals such as English Education, English Journal, The ALAN Review, Study & Scrutiny, Middle Grades Research Journal, Journal of Literacy Research, and Reading Research Quarterly. He is also a co-author of Rethinking the “Adolescent” in Adolescent Literacy (NCTE Press).

Education

Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction – Literacy Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder
M.A., English Studies, Northern Arizona University
M.Ed., Secondary Education – English Language Arts, Northern Arizona University
B.A., English for Corporate Communications and Management, Christian Brothers University

Recent Scholarship

Gómez, M., & Lewis, M. A. (in press). Identifying the assets of emergent bilingual middle school students' writing: Opportunities to validate students' linguistic repertoires and identities.  International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2022.2079371 

Lewis, M. A., & Rodesiler, L. (2021). Youth-Athletes' activism and coaches: Representations in sports-related young adult literature. Research on Diversity in Youth Literature. 4(1). https://sophia.stkate.edu/rdyl/vol4/iss1/6 

Botzakis, S., & Lewis, M. A. (2021). Divergent representations and relationships: Middle school youth and their teachers. The ALAN Review, 49(1), 22-31.

Rossi, M., & Lewis, M. A. (2021). Teaching The Harlem Hellfighters: A Great War counternarrative. English Journal, 111(1), 56-64.

Rodesiler, L., Lewis, M. A., & Brown, A. (2021). Relationships between youth-sports coaches and athletes: Messages from the "best" sports-related films. In K. Garland, K. S. Dredger, C. L. Beach, & C. Leogrande, (Eds.), Stories of sport: Critical literacy in media production, consumption, and dissemination (pp. 49-69). Lexington Books.

Rodesiler, L., & Lewis, M. A. (2020). From maven to mentor: The archetypal coaches of The Contender. In V. Malo-Juvera, & C. Hill, (Eds.), Critical explorations of young adult literature: Identifying and critiquing the canon (pp. 85-101). Routledge.

Lewis, M. A., & Gómez Zisselsberger, M. (2019). Scaffolding and inequitable participation in linguistically diverse book clubs. Reading Research Quarterly, 54, 167-186.

Rodesiler, L., & Lewis, M. A. (2019). “I thought coaches were supposed to set an example”: Coaches’ divergent roles in young adult literature. The ALAN Review, 46(2), 27-39.


Professional Affiliations

• National Council of Teachers of English
  • Assembly of Research (NCTEAR)
  • English Language Arts Teacher Educators (ELATE)
• Literacy Research Association
  • Conference Area Co-Chair, Text Analysis of Children’s, Young Adult, and Adult Literature, 2018-Present
• American Educational Research Association
• Maryland Association of School Librarians
  • Black-Eyed Susan Children’s and Young Adult Literature Awards Committee
    • Grades 6-9 Graphic Novels sub-committee member, 2018-Present