Erica Barnes

Erica Barnes completed her PhD in Development, Learning, and Diversity at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College where she was an Institute of Education Sciences Pre-doctoral Fellow. She is the recipient of the American Educational Research Association’s Early Education and Child Development Special Interest Group (SIG) Outstanding Dissertation Award for 2015. Her previous teaching experience has involved working with children in grades K-12, primarily providing support for students receiving special education services. She has also served as a Teacher Consultant and Progress Monitoring Consultant, assisting teachers, principals, and district leaders with planning, implementing, and assessing instruction, particularly around literacy-related activities. 

Her research may be categorized into three strands: (a) identifying language-rich practices and environments in prekindergarten settings to prevent later literacy difficulties for underserved populations, (b) academic language practices in prekindergarten and elementary settings that relate to literacy development, and (c) early reading instruction. Her research employs a fine-grained approach using quantitative methods (hierarchical linear modeling, meta-analysis, structural equation modelling, cluster analysis, logistic regression, principal component analysis), qualitative methods (microethnography, content analysis, multimodal analysis), and mixed methods, to pin-point specific factors related to children’s language and literacy growth. She is the author of two books, From Words to Wisdom: Supporting Academic Language Use in PreK-3rd Grade (2021) and Early Literacy Instruction and Intervention: Third Edition: The Interactive Strategies Approach (ISA) (2024). She has published numerous articles in journals such as Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Journal of Child Language, The Reading Teacher, Early Education and Development, Journal of Educational Research, and Teaching and Teacher Education.