Teaching Developmental Reading

Sonya L. Armstrong is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University (NIU) and Director of the College Learning Enhancement Program, the literacy component of NIU's developmental education program, CHANCE. Before moving into a tenure-track position at NIU, she taught in developmental education programs and community colleges in Ohio for eight years. Her research focuses on developmental literacy learning and practice. Her dissertation, Beginning the Literacy Transition: Postsecondary Students' Conceptualizations of Academic Writing in Developmental Literacy Contexts, has won two awards, the Garvin Distinguished Dissertation Award (from the University of Cincinnati) and the Outstanding Dissertation in the Field of Postsecondary Literacy Award (from the College Literacy and Learning special interest group of the International Reading Association). Her recent research examines program-level issues, including assessing the alignment of reading expectations and textbooks in developmental reading and general/occupational education courses. With colleagues, she has published in the Journal of Developmental Education, Literacy Research and Instruction, the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Teaching English in the Two-Year College, and Research in the Teaching of English. Currently, she serves as the Associate Editor for the Journal of College Reading and Learning, and leads the Research and Evaluation Special Interest Group of the College Reading and Learning Association.

Norman A. Stahl is a Professor Emeritus from the Department of Literacy Education at Northern Illinois University. Over the years his research has focused on postsecondary reading instruction with particular interest in the field's history. Dr. Stahl's works include content analyses, quantitative research, instructional reviews, commentaries, organizational histories, and methodological pieces on documentary history and oral history. He has received honors from the National Association for Developmental Education, the College Reading and Learning Association, the College Literacy and Learning Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association, and the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers for his scholarship pertaining to reading and learning. He has served as president of the College Reading and Learning Association, the Learning Research Association, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers, and the History of Literacy Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association as well as serving as the Chair of the American Reading Forum. He is a national Fellow of the Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations.

Hunter R. Boylan is the Director of the National Center for Developmental Education and a Professor of Higher Education at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Developmental Education, the International Journal of Education and Development, and the Journal of Teaching and Learning and serves on the Advisory Boards of the Carnegie Foundation Statway Project, the National Center for Postsecondary Research, the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE), and is a Technical Assistant for the Gates Foundation Developmental Education Initiative. He the former Chair of the Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations, a Past President of NADE, and the founding Director of the nation's first Doctoral Program in Developmental Education at Grambling State University. He has received the NADE award for "Outstanding Leadership" and the association's "Outstanding Research" Award is named after him as are the research scholarships of the Association for the Tutoring Profession and the National College Learning Center Association. He is the author or co-author of five books and over 100 research articles, book chapters, and monographs.