Cortney Dilgard

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Dilgard explores professional learning, interventions, instructional strategies, and teaching methods for elementary literacy. Specifically, her research emphasizes:  

HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Dilgard, C. & Hodges, T. S. (2021). Beyond the scores: Digging deeper into miscues to adjust instruction. The Reading Paradigm, 14(1), p. 6-23.  
2. Dilgard, C. & Hodges, T. S. (2022). Leveraging literacy centers for phonics and fluency skill building in middle school. The Clearinghouse Journal, 95(1), p. 7-17. doi:10.1080/00098655.2021.2016565. 
3. Dilgard, C. & Si, Qi. (2022). A multimodal writing framework to promote agency. In Hodges, T. (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher writing practices for diverse writing instruction. IGI Global. doi:10.4018/978-1-6684-6213-3.ch007. 
4. Dilgard, C., Hodges, T. S., & Coleman, J. (2022). Phonics instruction in early literacy: Examining professional learning, instructional resources, and intervention intensity. Reading Psychology, 43(8), p. 541-575. doi:10.1080/02702711.2022.2126045. 
5. Dilgard, C., Hodges, T. S. (2023). Getting to the root of reading intervention for upper elementary. Journal of Literacy Innovation, 8(1), 23-39. 
6. Dilgard, C. (2023, April/May/June). Demarginalizing students through diverse literature access. Literacy Today, 40(4), 36-38. ​
7. Dilgard, C. (2023). Supporting teachers to increase morphology instruction in elementary grades (30419384). [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Alabama, ProQuest]. 

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Cortney Dilgard serves as a clinical assistant professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department at the College of Education. She has more than twenty years of experience in the field of education. She has served as an elementary teacher, secondary reading interventionist, K-12 instructional coach, K-3 reading specialist, and K-12 director of curriculum and instruction. She teaches literacy methods courses within the Elementary Education program at The University of Alabama. Her research focus includes professional learning, interventions, instructional strategies and teaching methods for elementary literacy. In addition, she researches literacy teaching methods for pre-service educators.

Teaching Philosophy

Colleen Wilcox said, “teaching is the greatest act of optimism.” As educators, we exemplify the hope of a better society by instilling critical knowledge, beliefs, and skills in our students so they can create a better tomorrow. During my time as a classroom teacher, I learned how to leverage different forms of assessment so I could differentiate my instruction to meet the needs of all my students. I also learned the value of forming relationships with students to inform equitable learning opportunities. As an instructional coach, I learned the value of modeling, collaboration, and providing feedback. As a Director of Curriculum, I learned the advantages of short-term and long-term strategic planning. As a doctoral student continuing to work in the K-12 world, I learned to bridge theory and research to classroom practices. These beliefs of equity, differentiation, modeling, collaboration, feedback, and strategic planning are principles that I have taken forward in my career as I prepare preservice teachers and continue my research. 

I believe providing equitable opportunities for literacy acquisition is currently one of the most important efforts in American education. As a classroom teacher, I achieved this goal by differentiating through small group instruction, honoring student voice and choice in learning activities, and purposefully incorporating a range of diverse perspectives. By infusing rich, diverse literature and teaching examples into courses and assignments, my preservice teachers build the necessary instruction and assessment skills to provide equity in their own future classrooms.  

My time working as an instructional coach provided me with an abundance of opportunities to work alongside teachers to help them improve both their content knowledge through professional learning and their pedagogy through coaching cycles of modeling, collaboration, and feedback. This coaching mindset guides my approach when working with educators and future educators. This mindset guides me as I model content and pedagogy in my courses, collaborate with students to develop lessons, and offer feedback to extend their learning. These same principles are evident in the professional learning I provide teachers. 

My experience strategically planning curriculum and projects by setting and monitoring goals assists me in my teaching roles. Using professional standards and formative assessment, I strategically plan courses, field experiences, and program sequences while focusing on bridging my students’ learning about theory and research to practical classroom practices. As educators, we embody the optimism for our society’s future. Through diversity, equity, and a focus on social justice, we can provide differentiated learning based on students’ needs and interests. Through my research, teaching, and service I will continue to believe and work towards this hope of optimism for the futures of teachers and students. As these principles have guided my past experiences, they continue to guide my practices as a researcher and teacher educator with all the optimism for our society’s future.