Biography
Dr. Sabina Neugebauer is an associate professor of literacy in the College of Education and Human Development at Temple University. Dr. Neugebauer’s research focuses on the language and literacy development of linguistically diverse students in urban elementary and middle schools. Her work explores two aspects of efficacious reading: vocabulary and reading motivation. She investigates these two facets of reading at three complementary levels of analysis (individual, classroom and school context) to more comprehensively identify ways to support students in achieving equitable educational outcomes. Her scholarship identifies prominent sources of reading differences between individuals, evaluates classroom practices that empower student success, and engages in partnerships with communities and schools to co-develop responsive, school-wide practices and programs.
Dr. Neugebauer’s research has been supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, Spencer Foundation, and U.S. Department of Education to improve the schooling experiences of multilingual students. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Early Career Scholar Award from AERA’s Division C, Learning and Instruction, and the International Literacy Association’s Elva Knight award. She is an associate editor for the Elementary School Journal and her work has been featured in journals including the Journal of Educational Psychology, Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research and the Reading Teacher. She is a coauthor of Interventions for Reading Problems: Designing and Evaluating Effective Strategies, published by Guilford Press, and Indigenous Knowledge and Education: Sites of Struggle, Strength and Survivance, published by Harvard Educational Publishing Group. Her recent book is titled Reimagining Language Instruction: New Approaches to Promoting Equity published by Teachers College Press.
She received her doctorate from Harvard University and her BA from Wesleyan University. She has served as a reading interventionist, an Orton-Gillingham Associate reading specialist, and collaborated with urban schools in the United States and in Latin America to co-develop multilingual, multi-tiered, and digital reading programs.
Research Interests
- Equity
- Literacy
- Motivation
Courses Taught
Number | Name | Level |
|---|---|---|
TESL | Foundations of Language Teaching: Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners | Graduate |
EDUC 8503 | Learning to Read | Graduate |
| TESL 3631 | Principles and Practices for Teaching English Learners | Undergraduate |
| ECED 3197 | Language and Literacy Development and Instruction I | Undergraduate |
Selected Publications
Neugebauer, S. Sandilos, L., Sniad, T., Mabry, M., & Liebner, K. (2026). Aligning Pre-Service
and In-Service Teacher Professional Development to Support Multilingual Learners of English
in Elementary Schools. Journal of Teacher Education.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00224871261422201Neugebauer, S., Sandilos, L., Ellis*, E., Walls*, M. (2025). Teacher Gestures
Bridge Meaning: Unpacking Teacher Gesture in Storybook Read Alouds to Support Vocabulary. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 70, 211-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2024.10.006Blair, E.E., Sandilos, L.E., Ellis, E., & Neugebauer, S.R. (2024). Teachers survive together: Teacher collegial relationships and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sch Psychol, 39(5), pp. 499-509. United States. doi: 10.1037/spq0000596
Neugebauer, S.R., Sandilos, L., DiPerna, J., Hunter, L., Hart, S.C., & Ellis, E. (2023). 41 Teachers, 41 Different Ways. The Elementary School Journal, 124(1), pp. 157-192. University of Chicago Press. doi: 10.1086/725675
Neugebauer, S.R., Phillips Galloway, E., & Dobbs, C. (2023). Reimagining Language Instruction: New Approaches to Promoting Equity. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Gilmour, A.F., Neugebauer, S.R., & Sandilos, L.E. (2022). Moderators of the Association Between Teaching Students With Disabilities and General Education Teacher Turnover. EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN, 88(4), pp. 401-420. doi: 10.1177/00144029221081239
Neugebauer, S.R., Han, I., Fujimoto, K.A., & Ellis, E. (2022). Using National Data to Explore Online and Offline Reading Comprehension Processes. READING RESEARCH QUARTERLY. doi: 10.1002/rrq.459
Neugebauer, S.R. & Howard, E.R. (2021). Exploring conceptions of reading risk and program-specific literacy outcomes for Spanish speakers in dual language and English-medium programs. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 9(2), pp. 252-278. doi: 10.1075/jicb.20021.neu
Neugebauer, S.R., Coyne, M., McCoach, D.B., & Ware, S. (2021). Reframing adherence: Active ingredients and impromptu interactions that support vocabulary implementation effectiveness. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 56, pp. 52-64. doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.02.004
Neugebauer, S.R., Morrison, D., Karahalios, V., Harper, E., Jones, H., Lenihan, S., Oosterbaan, F., & Tindall, C. (2021). A Collaborative Model to Support K-12 Pre-Service Teachers’ Data-Based Decision Making in Schools: Integrating Data Discussions across Stakeholders, Spaces, and Subjects. Action in Teacher Education, 43(1), pp. 85-101. doi: 10.1080/01626620.2020.1842821
Neugebauer, S.R., Ellis, E., & Coyne, M. (2021). Making Personal Connections to Words to Increase Early Childhood Vocabulary Learning. Reading Teacher. doi: 10.1002/trtr.2052
Neugebauer, S. R. & Gilmour, A. F. (2020). The Ups and Downs of Reading across Content Areas: The Association between Instruction and Fluctuations in Reading Motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112, 344–363. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000373
Neugebauer, S.R. & Fujimoto, K.A. (2020). Distinct and Overlapping Dimensions of Reading Motivation in Commonly Used Measures in Schools. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 46(1), pp. 39-54. doi: 10.1177/1534508418819793
Neugebauer, S.R. & Blair, E.E. (2020). “I Know How to Read and All, but..”: Disciplinary Reading Constructions of Middle School Students of Color. Journal of Literacy Research, 52(3), pp. 316-340. doi: 10.1177/1086296X20938780
Neugebauer, S., Sandilos, L., Coyne, M., McCoach, D.B., & Ware, S. (2020). Highly Potent and Vastly Conditional Instructional Practices: Variations in Use and Utility of Language Interactions for Kindergarten. Early Education and Development, 31(4), pp. 541-560. doi: 10.1080/10409289.2019.1686928