Cortney Dilgard

RESEARCH INTERESTS

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

GRANT & RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Co-PI, Alabama Reading Initiative Higher Education Grant, The Legendary Teacher Project. (1/2026-12/2026) Total: $20,000
• Co-PI, University of Alabama Community-Based Partnership Seed Grant, Roll tide for reading: A library-based literacy partnership in Tuscaloosa county. (8/2025-5/2026) Total: $4,000
• Co-PI, Rising Tide Grant, Evaluating and enhancing the undergraduate experience for elementary education majors. (12/2024-6/2026) Total: $30,000

SELECTED 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]. 

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Memberships

• 2020 – present, International Literacy Association
• 2020 – present, Alabama Literacy Association
• 2021 – present, Association for Literacy Educators and Researchers
• 2022 – present, Literacy Research Association

External Service

• ALER Conference Reviewer (2026). Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers, St. Petersburg, FL.
• LRA Conference Reviewer (2026). Literacy Research Association Conference, Honolulu, HI.
• EPP Literacy Coursework Internal Review Team (Spring 2026). Alabama State Department of Education, Montgomery, AL.
• Conference Proposal Reviewer, Topic 14 (2024). Literacy Research Association Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Journal Reviewer

• Reading Psychology
• Journal of Literacy Research
• The Reading Teacher
• The Elementary School Journal
• Reading and Writing Quarterly
• Reading and Writing Journal

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Cortney Dilgard is a clinical assistant professor and the literacy program coordinator at The University of Alabama. She earned her Ph.D. in 2023 from The University of Alabama, majoring in elementary education with a literacy emphasis. She served as a former elementary teacher, literacy coach, and director of curriculum. Her current research interests include developing and implementing measures and professional learning to support pre-service and in-service teachers to instruct morphology; creating interventions, curriculums, and instructional materials to support students’ learning of morphology; supporting teachers to embed disciplinary literacy skills in math, science, social studies, and cross-curricular reading; preparing preservice teachers with the skills to teach literacy based on the science of reading; and mentoring literacy coaches to deliver professional development, form coaching partnerships, and foster self-efficacy for coaching.