Dr Paula Clarke

Profile

I am a cognitive developmental psychologist who works at the intersection between Psychology and Education. My work is generally applied in focus and uses a mixture of methodological approaches. I enjoy working in a collaborative and interdisciplinary way and value the opportunities it presents. 

I studied BSc (Hons) Psychology at the University of York (1996-1999) before working as a Research Assistant for Kate Nation and Maggie Snowling (2000-2001) in the Centre for Reading and Language also in the Department of Psychology at York. I stayed there for a further eight years. Completing a PhD in 2005 (Patterns of Memory Asset and Deficit in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder) under the supervision of Kate Nation and Graham Hitch, working as a Lecturer (2004-2006) and as a Post Doctoral researcher on the ESRC funded York Reading for Meaning project (2006-2009). I moved from Psychology to Education in 2009 when I was appointed as a Lecturer in the School of Education at Leeds.

Responsibilities

• School of Education Director of Research and Innovation
• MA Special Educational Needs Programme Leader

Research interests

My research uses psychological theory to inform the development of intervention approaches and assesment. I aim to help children engage with text and experience reading with meaning. My work promotes the development of rich mental representations and emphasizes exploration of ideas in multiple contexts and sharing perspectives. I am interested in how we assess and capture children’s understanding of text and how we can develop methodologies that are inclusive and accessible for all. My work is also concerned with research designs to evaluate the impact of educational interventions. I am experienced in using Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) and have a developing interest in Design-Based approaches for intervention development. I also have long standing research interests in disability, special educational needs, inclusive education, and neurodiversity and I have had the privilege of supervising some fantastic doctoral research in this area. 

Current research projects

Connecting and Comprehending through Play (funded by GameInLab)

School Library Service Project (funded by ASCELS/ Arts Council)

Co-Designing a REading App To use in primary Education Project (CREATE) (funded by ESRC/IAA University of Leeds)

Recently completed projects

Books Bags and Boxes (funded by the UKLA)

Dynamic Assessment of Reading Test (DART) (funded by the Nuffield Foundation)

The Impact of Covid-19 on Key Learning and Education (ICKLE) (funded by ESRC/UKRI)

REAding with CompreHension (REACH) Primary (funded by EEF).

Research affiliations

Leeds Child Development Unit (LCDU) 

Language, Development and Cognition research satellite Language@Leeds

Centre for Applied Education Research 

I am an Associate Editor for the British Journal of Educational Psychology.

I am an Editorial Advisory Board member of the Journal of Research in Reading having previously been an Associate Editor for the journal for many years. 

I am an Editorial Board member of the Scientific Studies of Reading journal.

• Connecting and Comprehending Through Play
• Deafness and Reading for Meaning - 'DReaM'
• REACH Primary
• Research to support School Library Services (SLS)
• Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to Read for Meaning

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) Psychology (1st)
• PhD Psychology
• York Certificate of Academic Practice

Professional memberships

• British Education Research Association (BERA)

Student education

I teach across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, covering the following areas:

• Developmental Psychology
• Learning Theories
• Reading and Language Development
• Literacy and Literacies
• Cognitive Development
• Ecological Systems Approaches
• Inclusive Education 
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities 
• Research Methods  

Research groups and institutes

• ICY: Inclusion, Childhood & Youth Research Centre
• Centre for Disability Studies

Current postgraduate researchers

• Karen Banks
• Joanne McCulloch
• Alastair Morgan
• Busra Gokkaya