About Jill

Dr. Jill Allor is a professor and chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning. She received her Ed.D. in special education with an emphasis on reading and reading disabilities from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 1996. A former special education teacher, her research is school-based and focuses on reading acquisition for students with and without disabilities, including students with learning disabilities or intellectual disabilities. Prior to arriving at SMU in 2004, she held faculty appointments at Florida State University and Louisiana State University.

Dr. Allor is the author or co-author of numerous articles and several curricular materials. She was awarded the 2000 Award for Outstanding Research by the Council on Learning Disabilities and is the co-recipient of the Best Article in Learning Disabilities Research and Practice for 1999. She is also the co-recipient of the 1999 Outstanding Proud Project, which was awarded by the Learning Disabilities Association of America. She has delivered numerous teacher/staff development programs on a wide variety of topics, including peer tutoring, early literacy development, phonemic awareness instruction, literacy assessment, and other literacy instructional techniques.