Getting Smarter

Anne Haas Dyson is a former teacher of young children and a fellow of the American Educational Research Association. Among her previous appointments was as a longtime professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she received the campus-wide Distinguished Teaching Award. She has spent over 40 years studying the childhood cultures and literacy learning of young schoolchildren, for which she has received numerous awards. Dyson aims, first, to bring respect and intellectual attention to childhood cultures and their relationship to school learning. Young children do not participate in school because they are concerned about the national economy, international competition, or climbing a ladder to academic accolades from a grateful nation. They desire to make sense of their world and to gain companionship in what can be a confusing world. Second, she aims to document the diversity of resources (languages, popular culture texts, semiotic tools, everyday experiences) our diverse school children bring with them with which to participate intellectually and socially in school, especially in written language development. Her most recent book publications are, published in 2016, Child cultures, schooling, and literacy: Global perspectives on children composing their lives, and, in 2021, Writing the School House Blues: Literacy, Equity, and Belonging in a Child’s Early Schooling.

James Hoffman is a Professor of Language and Literacy at The University of North Texas and currently serves as the Meadows Endowed Chair for Literacy. Dr. Hoffman is a former editor of The Reading Research Quarterly and The Yearbook of the National Reading Conference.

He has served as President of the National Reading Conference and as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association. Dr. Hoffman was an affiliated scholar with both the National Reading Research Center and the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement. He was elected to the Reading Hall of Fame in 2002 and served as President of this organization from 2008-2010.

Dr. Hoffman served as the chair for the International Reading Association’s Commission and the “Prepared to Make a Difference” research project. He has been active in international literacy projects in Central American, Africa and Asia. This past year he was awarded the Oscar Causey lifetime achievement award for research in literacy by the Literacy Research Association. The primary focus for his research has been on teaching and teacher preparation. Dr. Hoffman has published more than 150 articles, books and chapters on literacy related topics. He completed the Ph.D. at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Susan Neuman is a well-known and well-respected thought-leader in early childhood and literacy development. She specializes in literacy and policy for children who live in poverty. She has written more than 100 articles and authored and edited 11 books! She has taught and researched at a number of universities and is currently a professor of Childhood and Literacy Education at NYU.

She is on 'X' (formerly Twitter) at: @SusanBneuman.

She is on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-neuman-2812b41b/.

To find someone who is renowned in their field, look no further than the SUNY system and Dr. Peter Johnston! Dr. Johnston is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Albany, joining their Literacy Teaching and Learning Department in 1981 when it was just called the Reading Department. He serviced as chair 1999-2001 and 2009-2013. He retired in 2014.

Dr. Margaret Vaughn talks to Dr. Johnston about his career and what brings him excitement in his research, based around a fascination with children's learning and, no less, teachers' teaching.

In this episode, Dr. Margaret Vaughn talks with Dr. Patricia A. Edwards, Distinguished Professor of Language and Literacy at Michigan State University. Dr. Edwards is an internationally-recognized literacy scholar, known for her work in supporting literacy learning and development for families of color. She is a member of the Reading Hall of Fame, as well as NCRLL Distinguished Scholar. NCRLL stands for National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy.

And while all those things are national or international, she has paid particular attention to something even smaller in scale, though bigger in impact: the roles of parents in children's literacy development.

In this episode, Dr. Margaret Vaughn talks with Dr. John T. Guthrie, the esteemed

Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy Emeritus in the Department of Human Development

and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland at College Park.

He served as the Research Director at the International Reading Association from

1974-1984 and is the recipient of the Oscar Causey Award for Outstanding

Reading Research and is a member of the International Reading Association Hall

of Fame. In 2004, Dr. Guthrie received the University of Maryland Regent’s

Faculty Award for research/scholarship/creative activity. In 2011, he was

elected to the National Academy of Education which addresses research to

national policy

Gerald G. Duffy, EdD, is the former William Moran Distinguished Professor of Literacy and Reading at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University. He was an elementary- and middle-school teacher for nine years and so his scholarship and research has always been rooted in the classroom. He’s a past president of the National Reading Conference (now the Literacy Research Association) and a member of the Reading Hall of Fame. Dr. Duffy has worked with teachers and children across the United States and overseas. He has written and edited several books on reading instruction and has published over 150 articles and research studies on effective instruction and comprehensive. Plus, he’s one of Dr. Margaret Vaughn’s mentors and favorite teachers of all-time.