University of Albany Professor Johnston's Choice Words Rated #1 by Scholastic

Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning by Peter Johnston, a professor in the Reading Department of UAlbany's School of Education, was recently listed as #1 by Scholastic on its list of the best books on education over the past decade. Choice Words was chosen based on the recommendations of a team of top teachers, editors, and experts.

Choice Words suggests that how teachers talk to children is critical to their development as learners. In addition, a study by accomplished literacy teachers notes how what is said in the classroom and what is not said in the classroom impacts children with surprising consequences.

Johnston has worked as an elementary classroom teacher and a reading teacher. In addition, he has published eight books and numerous articles have appeared in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, Elementary School Journal, Reading Teacher, Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, Journal of Educational Psychology, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, and Theory into Practice.

About Professor Johnston:

Peter Johnston (Ph.D. University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana) is a professor in the Reading Department. He has worked as an elementary classroom teacher and as a reading teacher, and he currently serves on the editorial boards of: Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, Elementary School Journal, and Literacy, Teaching and Learning. He has published eight books and numerous articles in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Journal Of Literacy Research, Elementary School Journal, Reading Teacher, Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, Journal Of Educational Psychology, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, and Theory Into Practice. His most recent books are Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning (2004, Stenhouse), Critical literacy/critical teaching: Tools for preparing responsive teachers (in press, Teachers College Press, with Cheryl Dozier & Rebecca Rogers), Reading to Learn: Lessons from exemplary fourth grade classrooms (2002, Guilford, with Richard Allington), and Running records: a self-tutoring guide (2000, Stenhouse), Knowing literacy (1997, Stenhouse). He chaired the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English Joint Task Force on Assessment that produced the position monograph Standards for the assessment of reading and writing. The International Reading Association awarded him the Outstanding Dissertation award in 1981, and in 1987 the Albert J. Harris Award for his contribution to the understanding of reading disability. In 1996, the Educational Press Association recognized one of his articles as the Outstanding Learned Article. His current work investigates literacy assessment, the consequences of teaching practices for the kind of literacy children acquire, how teachers and students build productive learning communities, and the process of building critical inquiry into literacy teacher education.

Dr. Johnston has regularly taught the Capstone Practicum for Literacy Specialists B-6 (ERDG620) and Introduction to Literacy Teaching B-6 (ERDG500). He also teaches the doctoral courses Research Seminar in Literacy Difficulties (ERDG 773) and Current Research in Literacy (ERDG762).