Kelly Gallagher

Kelly Gallagher is a veteran high school English language arts teacher and literacy educator who taught at Magnolia High School in Anaheim, California, beginning his classroom career there in 1985 and teaching for more than 30 years, including 35 years noted in later profiles. In addition to his full-time teaching, he has served as an adjunct professor at California State University, Fullerton, taught and coached at Harlem Village Academies in New York City during a sabbatical, and held literacy leadership roles such as co-director of the South Basin Writing Project at California State University, Long Beach and English coordinator for the Anaheim Union High School District. He has also been recognized with the Award for Classroom Excellence from the California Association of Teachers of English.

Gallagher is the author or coauthor of numerous influential books on adolescent literacy and writing instruction, including Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It, Reading Reasons: Motivational Mini-Lessons for Middle and High School, Teaching Adolescent Writers, Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentor Texts, In the Best Interest of Students: Staying True to What Works in the ELA Classroom, 180 Days: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents (with Penny Kittle), 4 Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency (with Penny Kittle),