Dr. Purcell-Gates taught at
Michigan State University,
Harvard University, the
University of Cincinnati, U.C. Berkeley, and the
University of British Columbia. As professor and researcher at both Harvard and the University of Cincinnati, she was director of literacy centers in which both children and adults were provided with reading instruction. While in Ohio, in 1989, Dr. Purcell-Gates was approached by an
urban Appalachian woman, Jenny who was concerned about her son. Donny, age seven was caught in a cycle of family illiteracy and his mother desired Dr. Purcell-Gates' assistance. This encounter acted as the impetus for an ethnographic study focusing on the cycle of low literacy. She also questioned how an individual's cultural literacy experiences influence print literacy development. This research led to the
Grawemeyer Award winning book, "Other People's Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy" (1997). Dr. Purcell-Gates was the National Reading Conference (NRC) president for 2005–2006. Later, Dr. Purcell-Gates accepted the position of Tier 1
Canada Research Chair for Early Childhood Literacy at the University of British Columbia. She is also the principal investigator for the Cultural Practices of Literacy Study (CPLS). [http://cpls.educ.ubc.ca/ Within a socio-cultural framework, researchers question how schools address the needs of marginalized communities. == Publications ==