Dr. Dale Johnson Dowling College

Dr. Dale D. Johnson is Professor of Literacy Education at Dowling College in Oakdale, Long Island, New York. Prior to joining the Dowling Faculty, he served as Professor and Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisiana. Earlier he was on the faculty at the University of Northern Iowa.

Dr. Johnson is a past-president of the International Reading Association and a member of several other professional organizations. He has written 12 books and more than 100 chapters and journal articles on reading comprehension and vocabulary development. Dr. Johnson has authored instructional materials for children, adolescents, and adult learners. His most recent scholarly books are Vocabulary in the Elementary and Middle School (2001, Allyn & Bacon) and High Stakes: Children, Testing, and Failure in American Schools (2002, Rowman & Littlefield). The latter is an account of the 2000-2001 school year during which Dr. Johnson and his wife, Dr. Bonnie Johnson, taught full-time in a rural, under funded Louisiana elementary school which serves mostly African-American children who live in dire poverty. The book is a critique of the public school accountability movement and the high-stakes testing it has spawned.

Dr. Johnson received his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin for 16 years and held various administrative positions including Assistant Dean of the College of Education and Associate Director of the Center for Education Research.