MetaMetrics Research Scientist Jill Fitzgerald Selected as 2013 AERA Fellow

DURHAM, NC--(Marketwired - Jul 17, 2013) - MetaMetrics® Distinguished Research Scientist, Dr. Jill Fitzgerald, was inducted on April 28, 2013 into the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellows Program. The AERA Fellows Program recognizes scholars from around the world for their outstanding achievements in education research. Nominees are considered after 10-15 years of postdoctoral contributions and are nominated by existing AERA fellows. Dr. Fitzgerald is highly regarded for her research on text complexity for emergent readers, literacy for multilingual learners and writing.

Dr. Fitzgerald joined MetaMetrics as a Distinguished Research Scientist in 2011, continuing her research on a number of literacy issues. She is part of a team investigating text complexity for books intended for emergent readers. In addition to her position at MetaMetrics, she is Professor Emerita at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also holds a Research Professor position there in the School of Education. Her research spans more than 35 years and has resulted in over 100 published works. Dr. Fitzgerald was an editor for the recently published book Best Practices in Writing Instruction, Second Edition, which presents teachers with best practices for helping K-12 students develop their writing skills, while following the criteria of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

In 2011, Dr. Fitzgerald's long and notable career led to her being inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame. Other awards include the AERA's Outstanding Review of Research Award and the International Reading Association's Dina Feitelson Award for Research (alongside George Noblit). She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Educational Psychology and serves on editorial boards for several national and international research journals. She has also been a review panelist for the Office of Education, National Institute of Health and National Institute for Literacy. As a former teacher, Dr. Fitzgerald earned a doctorate in research and evaluation in reading from The State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo and a Master of Science in elementary education from SUNY at Cortland. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in general literature from Harpur College, SUNY at Binghamton, NY.

"Jill is a brilliant and dedicated researcher, someone we're quite proud to have as part of the MetaMetrics team," said MetaMetrics president and co-founder Malbert Smith III, Ph.D. "Her research in the literacy field and long and distinguished career make her an ideal AERA fellow."

The purpose of the AERA Fellows Program is to "honor education researchers with substantial research accomplishments, to convey the Association's commitment to excellence in research, and to enable the next generation of emerging scholars to appreciate the value of sustained achievements in research and the breadth of scholarship worthy of recognition." The AERA has over 25,000 members from a comprehensive range of fields and selected 23 scholars as 2013 AERA Fellows.

About MetaMetrics
MetaMetrics is focused on improving education for learners of all ages and ability levels. The organization develops scientific measures of academic achievement and complementary technologies that link assessment results with real-world instruction. MetaMetrics' products and services for reading (The Lexile® Framework for Reading, El Sistema Lexile para Leer), mathematics (The Quantile® Framework for Mathematics), and writing (The Lexile Framework for Writing) provide unique insights about academic ability and the potential for growth, enabling individuals to achieve their goals at every stage of development. Connect with the organization at: http://blog.lexile.com.