Susanna Benko
Professor of English and CSH Director of Teacher Education
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Susanna Benko is a former middle/high school English teacher who works in the English Education program at Ball State. As a teacher and researcher, she is interested in the teaching of writing—in practice and in policy—at the middle and secondary level.
Much of Dr. Benko’s work at BSU centers around teacher preparation and supporting practicing teachers. She teaches courses on writing pedagogy and young adult literature, and she enjoys the opportunity to supervise student teachers.
Dr. Benko’s research is situated at the intersections of curriculum design, writing pedagogy, and educational policy and is guided by two critical questions. Most recently, her work in this area focuses on writing instruction at the state/national level, investigating how curricular and professional resources (e.g., lesson plans, articles) communicate beliefs about ELA instruction related to state standards, and considering the possible implications of these policies for classroom teachers. Her work has been published in journals such as English Education, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, English Teaching: Practice and Critique, and AERA Open.
Dr. Benko is honored to serve as the site director for the Indiana Writing Project. IWP is a site of the National Writing Project housed in the English department at BSU. Teachers who are a part of IWP are dedicated to leading other teachers in improving writing instruction in K–12 schools in central Indiana.
Professional Experience
Associate Professor of English (most recent)
2017-present
Director, Indiana Writing Project
2016-present
Director, English Education
2014-2016
Curriculum Vitae
Download CV (PDF)
Education
Ph.D., Language, Literacy and Culture
University of Pittsburgh
M.Ed.
Indiana Wesleyan University
B.S., English and Secondary Education
Butler University
Research and Publications
Benko, S. L. (2020). Looking forward, looking back: Reflections on values and pedagogical choices during COVID-19. Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education, 9(1). https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/wte/vol9/iss1/19/
Benko, S. L., Hodge, E., & Salloum, S. (2020) Policy into practice: Understanding state writing resources. Journal of Literacy Research, 52(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/1086296X20915538
Hodge, E., Benko, S. L., & Salloum, S. (2020). Tracing states’ messages about Common Core instruction: An analysis of English/language arts and close reading resources. Teachers College Record. 122(3),https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=23019
Salloum, S., J, Benko, S. L. & Hodge, E. M (2017). Getting Connected: Finding Literacy Resources in the Era of Common Core. Kappa Delta Pi Record 43(3), 120-125. DOI: 10.1080/00228958.2017.1334476
Benko, S. L. (2016). Instruction Matters: Examining preservice teachers’ instruction for cognitively demanding writing tasks. English Education 48(3), 201-236.
Hodge, E. M., Salloum, S. J., & Benko, S. L. (2016) (Un)Commonly connected: A social network analysis of state standards resources for English/Language Arts. AERA Open 2(4), 1-19. DOI: 10.1177/2332858416674901. Retrieved from: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2332858416674901