Kathleen Cranley Gallagher, Ph.D.

Kathleen Cranley Gallagher is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood, Families and Literacy at the University of North Carolina’s School of Education.  Her research interests include developmental competence in the emotional, social, physical and cognitive domains, with an emphasis on how children’s relationships and personal characteristics influence their competence in different contexts.  Additional areas of interest include teacher-child relationships and emergent literacy and infant-mother relationships.  Dr. Gallagher received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Educational Psychology in 2002.

In addition to examining the role that temperament plays in child adjustment and parenting, Gallagher also studies children’s transitions to school and is currently researching the effectiveness of an intervention that targets children who are struggling with the transition to kindergarten.  She serves as an investigator on the Rural Early Literacy Initiative of the National Research Center on Rural Education Support and is helping to design professional development activities for teachers so that they can assist children who have difficulty with early literacy and social skills development.  Prior to researching children’s social and literacy development, Dr. Gallagher worked with children, families, and teachers for over fifteen years. Her professional experience includes teaching and administering in early intervention, preschool, and kindergarten programs. 

Most Cited Publication (8 citations):

Additional Publications: