Assistant Professor Olivia Cox authored an article published in Education Policy Analysis Archives in August 2026.
Olivia Cox, assistant professor of education in reading/literacy in the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education at 51, published research in the peer-reviewed journal Education Policy Analysis Archives, a top open-access venue in the field of education policy.
The article is titled “Curriculum, professional development, and leadership: The ‘pillars’ in action at a rural elementary school working to improve reading instruction.” It examines how educators, administrators and university researchers collaborated to implement state-mandated practices for teaching reading. Findings emphasize the need to focus on organizational factors when studying schools’ efforts to improve instruction in their building, rather than placing responsibility solely on individual teachers. Amid intensive elementary reading education reform, this kind of systems-level view can challenge deficit-based narratives about teachers. It also highlights their expertise, agency, and commitment to improving their practice.
Cox is a North Carolina native. Before coming to Elon, she taught kindergarten and first grade and worked as an instructional coach in Durham, North Carolina. She has just completed her first year at Elon. Her research explores pre-service and in-service teacher learning and practice within complex policy contexts. Cox believes literacy is a human and a civil right, and her teaching and scholarship at Elon are grounded in the idea that literacy instruction can be research-informed, culturally meaningful, and equitable.
Full Citation: Cox, O. (2026). Curriculum, professional development, and leadership: The “pillars” in action at a rural elementary school working to improve reading instruction. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 34. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.34.9615