Rate My Professor Emily Solari

Emily Solari serves as the Edmund H. Henderson Professor of Education in the University of Virginia's School of Education and Human Development and as Director of Virginia Literacy Partnerships. She earned her Ph.D. in Special Education, Disabilities, and Risk Studies with an emphasis in Human Development from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2007, along with her M.A. from the same institution in 2004. Throughout her career at the University of Virginia, Solari has focused her research on early reading development, assessment, and instruction. Her work emphasizes developing and testing interventions for students at risk for reading difficulties, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder, English language learners, and dyslexia. She has served as principal investigator on multiple Institute of Education Sciences-funded grants, including efficacy studies of the Read Well program and interventions for students with reading difficulties. Additionally, she leads the NIH-funded Learning Disabilities Research Center and a postdoctoral training grant from the Office of Special Education Programs. Solari was instrumental in shaping Virginia's Literacy Act and related teacher training initiatives, translating scientific research into practical strategies for educators and policymakers.

Solari's scholarly contributions include numerous peer-reviewed publications that advance the field of reading intervention. Key works encompass 'Validation of an instrument for assessing elementary-grade educators’ knowledge to teach reading' (2023), 'Forty Years of Reading Intervention Research for Elementary Students with or at Risk for Dyslexia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis' (2022), 'Effectiveness of Interventions for English Learners with Word Reading Difficulties: A Research Synthesis' (2021), 'Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on the Identification of At-Risk Students: Fall 2021 Literacy Screening Findings' (2022), 'An examination of the heterogenous nature of literacy development in Spanish-speaking preschool children' (2021), and 'Code-related literacy profiles of kindergarten students with autism' (2021). Her efforts have significantly influenced literacy policy and practice in Virginia and beyond, fostering improved outcomes for struggling readers through evidence-based approaches.