Jan Lacina, professor and associate dean of graduate studies, received the Deans’ Research and Creativity Award at Fall Commencement. Lacina was one of three TCU faculty members to receive the $2,500 award for producing the highest quality research or creative activity of the last several years.

“I am very excited and humbled,” Lacina said about her achievement. “I am very proud to represent the College of Education and glad that we are represented as one of the winners.”

Lacina’s research builds on her teaching experiences that began 20 years ago as an elementary school teacher. Her research areas include writing instruction, new literacies, struggling readers and writers and teacher education. “I continue to have a passion for teaching reading and writing as well as researching reading and writing instruction,” she said. Lacina says she continually finds ways to connect with local schools either through teaching or research experiences. “For the past eight years, I’ve spent time at a local sixth grade campus with my students teaching writing to young adolescents who struggle with reading and writing. To see these children develop a love for the writing experience inspires both my teaching and research,” Lacina said.

Through her research, Lacina hopes educators will learn the importance of reading comprehension and writing development in youth. “I hope to convey the importance of giving students a choice in what they read and to engage them with active reading strategies for understanding what they read and to provide tools for writing so that children can develop into effective writers,” she said. “I also hope that readers of my research will find ways to use the technologies of today to inspire children to better comprehend what they read.”

Lacina’s future research interests include adolescent cross cultural friendship development in young adult literature (YAL). “I spent part of my sabbatical researching YAL and examining the types of friendships that develop among adolescents from different cultural backgrounds,” she said. She also plans to continue her research in the area of comprehension and instruction as well as serve as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Research in Childhood Education through 2014.

Lacina is the author of more than 100 research publications including three books. She has published in such journals as the Journal of Literacy Research, Voices from the Middle, Language Arts, The Reading Teacher, Teacher Education Quarterly, The Teacher Educator, Childhood Education, Young Children and many others.