Scholars

Wijekumar, Kausalai

Professor

Positions:

Houston Endowed Professor, Teaching, Learning and Culture, School of Education and Human Development
Director, Center for Urban School Partnerships, Teaching, Learning and Culture, School of Education and Human Development
Professor, Teaching, Learning and Culture, School of Education and Human Development

Research Areas:

Teacher effectiveness, Education and state, Literacy, Reading, Intelligent tutoring systems--Design, Writing

UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Single Page Bio

Profile Summary

k_wijekumar@tamu.edu

Co-author Network

Map of Science

Co-investigator Network

Websites

Literacy

ORCID

0000-0002-0768-5693

UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Research Areas:

Teacher effectiveness, Education and state, Literacy, Reading, Intelligent tutoring systems--Design, Writing

Twitter

Tweets by @kaywije

overview

Dr. Wijekumar designs, develops, and tests intelligent tutoring systems to improve literacy practices with students and teachers. She focuses on reading comprehension, writing, and teacher professional development. The web-based tutoring systems and all the supporting materials are available in English and Spanish. Dr. Wijekumar's work has received accolades from the What Works Clearinghouse and U.S. News and World Report. She has received over 60 million dollars in grant funding from many Federal agencies. Currently she serves as Principal Investigator on five US Department of Education grants totaling 17 million dollars in funding.

education and training

Ph.D. in Instructional Systems, Pennsylvania State University - (State College, Pennsylvania, United States) 2000

selected publications

Academic Articles40

Lindner, A. L., Wijekumar, K., & Joshi, R. M. (2022). English Spelling Performance in Writing Samples Among Spanish-Speaking ELLs.. J Learn Disabil. 55(2), 114-122.
Wijekumar, K. K., Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Lei, P. (2022). A teacher technology tango shows strong results on 5th graders persuasive writing. ETR&D-EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 70(4), 1415-1439.
Joshi, R. M., Wijekumar, K., & Gillespie Rouse, A. (2022). International Perspectives on Spelling and Writing in Different Orthographies: Introduction to the Special Series.. J Learn Disabil. 55(2), 83-86.
Hudson, A. K., Owens, J., Moore, K. A., Lambright, K., & Wijekumar, K. K. (2021). "What's the Main Idea?": Using Text Structure to Build Comprehension. READING TEACHER. 75(1), 113-118.
Zhang, S., Wijekumar, K. K., & Han, B. (2021). An Analysis of Grade 4 Reading Textbooks used in Mainland China: Do the Texts and Activities Support Higher Order Reading Comprehension Skills?. TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING. 26(2), 251-291.

SDG 4

Chapters11

Wijekumar, K. K., Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Meyer, B. (2016). Adaptive Educational Technologies for Literacy Instruction. Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S. (Eds.), Adaptive Educational Technologies for Literacy Instruction. 184-203. Routledge.

SDG 4
Wijekumar, K. K., Meyer, B., Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Beerwinkle, A. (2016). Comparing learning outcomes and implementation factors from student-managed vs. Teacher-managed intelligent tutoring systems. Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Structure, Applications and Challenges. 175-200.
Wijekumar, K. K., Meyer, B., & Lei, P. (2016). Improving Content Area Reading Comprehension with 46th Grade Spanish ELLs Using Web-Based Structure Strategy Instruction. Competencies in Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership in the Digital Age. 123-135. Springer Nature.

SDG 4
Meyer, B., & Wijekumar, K. K. (2016). Intelligent Tutoring of the Structure Strategy. Adaptive Educational Technologies for Literacy Instruction. 82-103. Taylor & Francis.
Wijekumar, K. K., Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Meyer, B. (2016). We-Write. Adaptive Educational Technologies for Literacy Instruction. 184-203. Taylor & Francis.