Stephanie Al Otaiba
Professor
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
214-768-1339
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Stephanie Al Otaiba, Ph.D. joined Southern Methodist University in January 2012 as a professor of Teaching and Learning in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education & Human Development. Previously, she was an Associate Professor at the Florida State University (FSU) and was on faculty at the Florida Center for Reading Research. She received her Ph.D. in 2000 in Human Development from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, and prior to that, was a special educator for over a decade in the United Arab Emirates. She enjoys teaching graduate courses in literacy, special education, assessment, response to intervention and mentoring doctoral students.
Dr. Al Otaibas research interests include school-based literacy interventions, response to intervention, diverse learners, and teacher training. She has published over 60 journal articles and book chapters related to these interests. She has also developed reading curricular materials. Her line of research has been supported by several federally funded grants from the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences, the Office of Special Education Programs, and from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Her dissertation was awarded the 2001 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the International Reading Association and in 2010 she was the recipient of The Council for Exceptional Children Division for Researchs Distinguished Early Career Research Award. She also received the Developing Scholar Award and the Graduate Faculty Mentor Award at FSU in 2010.
Dr. Al Otaiba serves on review panels for grants for the Institute of Education Science and has reviewed for the Office of Special Education Programs. She is an Associate Editor of Education Researcher and of the Elementary School Journal and also serves on numerous editorial boards for scholarly journals in the field of education. Dr. Al Otaiba has consulted nationally and internationally related to early literacy intervention and assessment.