Her research is centered on linguistically diverse student writers and includes the development of a novel writing assessment, Generous Reading. This research has been published in Language Arts, The Reading Teacher, and TESOL Journal. Spence works as a literacy teacher educator and teaches classes on-site in schools across South Carolina. Prior to joining the university faculty, Lucy taught grades K-8 in Arizona. She taught in a reading program, an ESL classroom, and in a media/literacy position in a Spanish dominant community. Spence continues to focus on language and writing as her current research has been conducted in language arts classrooms in Japan.