Rate My Professor Tracy Cameron

Tracy Ann Cameron completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at the University of Otago in 2021. Her doctoral thesis, titled 'Risk and Resilience in Beginning Reading in New Zealand,' supervised primarily by Dr. Elizabeth Schaughency in the Department of Psychology, was recognized among the exceptional PhD theses in the Division of Sciences. The research aimed to extend understanding of risk and resilience factors influencing children's reading acquisition during their initial years of primary schooling in New Zealand, utilizing longitudinal assessments of early literacy skills.

Cameron's academic interests center on early literacy development, including patterns of word reading skill progression, school-entry competencies, and oral language indicators in preschool and Year 1 children in New Zealand. Her work employs advanced methodologies such as multilevel growth modeling and growth mixture approaches to describe developmental trajectories over the first six months and one year of formal reading instruction. Key publications include 'Patterns of Early Literacy and Word Reading Skill Development Across the First 6 Months of School and Reading Instruction' (2023, with J. Carroll and E. Schaughency, Reading Research Quarterly); 'School-Entry Skills and Early Skill Trajectories Predict Reading After 1 Year' (2023, with E. Schaughency, M. Taumoepeau, C. McPherson et al., Journal of Research in Reading); and 'Concurrent Validity of the Preschool Early Literacy Indicators (PELI) with Oral Language and Emergent Literacy Measures in New Zealand Children Entering School' (2020, with C. McPherson and E. Schaughency, New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies). She presented on growth modeling of emerging literacy skills at the Department of Psychology's Psycolloquy 2016. Currently, she holds the position of Business Analyst in Enterprise Business Analysis within Information Technology Services at the University of Otago.