Kristin Keane is Assistant Professor of Reading Development in the Berkeley School of Education. She uses mixed methods approaches to study literacy development and instruction in elementary schools, paying special attention to the ways multimodal and digital literacies—including technological approaches—can enhance engagement, comprehension, and dialogic discussion of varied types of text, especially for multilingual students and those labeled as disengaged or behind by their institutions.
With a particular focus on research practice partnerships, she works with teachers, school leaders, and districts to improve literacy-related instruction and outcomes for all students. As a practitioner, she led a network of literacy coaches, served as a literacy staff developer, and taught in various contexts in California.
Her research has been published in Review of Educational Research; Reading Research Quarterly; Teacher and Teacher Education; The Journal of Educational Research; Literacy Research and Instruction; American Educator; and Literacy Today. She is the co-editor of Language and Literacy Beyond Decoding (Guilford Press, 2026).
A proud first-gen student and two-time UC grad, she formerly worked as a research scientist serving as the Director of Research and Partnerships at the Language to Literacy Research Lab at Stanford University where she earned a Ph.D.
