Jeanne Chall
Encyclopedia
Jeanne Chall a Harvard Graduate School of Education
psychologist, writer, and literacy researcher for over 50 years, believed in the importance of direct, systematic instruction in reading in spite of other reading trends throughout her career.
Born in Poland in 1921, Chall was deeply committed to teaching, to the importance of children's successful reading acquisition and the need to address failing readers, to the power of research to answer practical questions, and to the merit of understanding the historical background of research questions. Though her views were often controversial, she was respected by her peers for the meticulous research. Her conclusions about the best way to approach beginning reading were unpopular when she first presented them, though they have subsequently gained acceptance in the literacy community. Chall's professional life was committed to children's successful reading acquisition, especially low S.E.S. children's. She was also committed to finding answers to failure among readers. She responded to the national concern over why many children were not learning to read well, made popular by Rudolf Flesch
's Why Johnny Can't Read, by writing Learning to Read: The Great Debate. She and Edgar Dale also developed a formula, the Dale-Chall Readability Formula, in 1948 which was considered the most valid and reliable of its kind for determining the readability of texts for several decades. In 1983, Chall added Stages of Reading Development to her literacy contributions. Later, in 1996, she and three of her graduate students developed the Qualitative Assessment of Text Difficulty: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Writers.
Chall retired from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1991. She died at 78 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
on November 27, 1999.
, Chall immigrated at the age of seven to New York City
with her family. Unlike her older siblings, Chall began her schooling in the US and ultimately helped teach her parents English so that they could pass their citizenship exams. She graduated from the City College of New York
in 1941 with a B.B.A. She served as research assistant to Edgar Dale
at Ohio State University
, where she received a M.A. in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1952. Between 1950 and 1965 Chall rose from lecturer to professor at City College. Later she became the director of the Harvard Reading Laboratory at Harvard University. Chall died in 1999 at the age of 78.
to create and direct graduate programs in reading for master's and doctoral candidates. She founded the Harvard Reading Laboratory in 1967, directing it until she retired in 1991. The laboratory is now named after her. She served on the board of directors of the International Reading Association
, 1961–1964, and on the National Academy of Education's Commission on Reading that resulted in the report Becoming a Nation of Readers (1985). She received many professional awards, last given to her in 1996.
Chall's most important professional contribution was a byproduct of the professional furor over Rudolf Flesch's Why Johnny Can't Read-and What You Can Do About It (1955). Flesch attacked the prevailing ideas, saying that reading professionals had ignored their own research.
Chall's Learning to Read the Great Debate (1967) quickly became a classic. Major textbook publishers reacted by emphasizing more phonics earlier in their series. Chall's book was updated in 1983 (3rd edition in 1996) with even stronger research findings to support its conclusions.
Stages of Reading Development was published in 1983. In 1996, Chall and three graduate students wrote a guide to evaluating the level of texts' reading difficulty, Qualitative Assessment of Text Difficulty: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Writers.
Chall's last work, published posthumously, was The Academic Challenge: What Really Works in the Classroom (2000). In it, she divides American instruction into "child-centered" and "teacher-centered" approaches, suggesting that the twentieth century was dominated by the former (discovery approaches) in spite of the research that supported a later theory (explicit teaching).
Harvard Graduate School of Education
The Harvard Graduate School of Education is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University, and is one of the top schools of education in the United States. It was founded in 1920, the same year it invented the Ed.D...
psychologist, writer, and literacy researcher for over 50 years, believed in the importance of direct, systematic instruction in reading in spite of other reading trends throughout her career.
Born in Poland in 1921, Chall was deeply committed to teaching, to the importance of children's successful reading acquisition and the need to address failing readers, to the power of research to answer practical questions, and to the merit of understanding the historical background of research questions. Though her views were often controversial, she was respected by her peers for the meticulous research. Her conclusions about the best way to approach beginning reading were unpopular when she first presented them, though they have subsequently gained acceptance in the literacy community. Chall's professional life was committed to children's successful reading acquisition, especially low S.E.S. children's. She was also committed to finding answers to failure among readers. She responded to the national concern over why many children were not learning to read well, made popular by Rudolf Flesch
Rudolf Flesch
Rudolf Flesch was an author , and also a readability expert and writing consultant who was a vigorous proponent of plain English in the United States. He created the Flesch Reading Ease test and was co-creator of the Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test...
's Why Johnny Can't Read, by writing Learning to Read: The Great Debate. She and Edgar Dale also developed a formula, the Dale-Chall Readability Formula, in 1948 which was considered the most valid and reliable of its kind for determining the readability of texts for several decades. In 1983, Chall added Stages of Reading Development to her literacy contributions. Later, in 1996, she and three of her graduate students developed the Qualitative Assessment of Text Difficulty: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Writers.
Chall retired from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1991. She died at 78 in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
on November 27, 1999.
Biographical information
Born in PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Chall immigrated at the age of seven to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with her family. Unlike her older siblings, Chall began her schooling in the US and ultimately helped teach her parents English so that they could pass their citizenship exams. She graduated from the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
in 1941 with a B.B.A. She served as research assistant to Edgar Dale
Edgar Dale
Edgar Dale was an American educationist who developed the Cone of Experience. He made several contributions to audio and visual instruction, including a methodology for analyzing the content of motion pictures. Born and raised in North Dakota he received a B.A. and M.A. from the Universtiy of...
at Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, where she received a M.A. in 1947 and a Ph.D. in 1952. Between 1950 and 1965 Chall rose from lecturer to professor at City College. Later she became the director of the Harvard Reading Laboratory at Harvard University. Chall died in 1999 at the age of 78.
Major contributions
In 1965 Chall moved to Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
to create and direct graduate programs in reading for master's and doctoral candidates. She founded the Harvard Reading Laboratory in 1967, directing it until she retired in 1991. The laboratory is now named after her. She served on the board of directors of the International Reading Association
International Reading Association
The International Reading Association is an international professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading....
, 1961–1964, and on the National Academy of Education's Commission on Reading that resulted in the report Becoming a Nation of Readers (1985). She received many professional awards, last given to her in 1996.
Chall's most important professional contribution was a byproduct of the professional furor over Rudolf Flesch's Why Johnny Can't Read-and What You Can Do About It (1955). Flesch attacked the prevailing ideas, saying that reading professionals had ignored their own research.
Chall's Learning to Read the Great Debate (1967) quickly became a classic. Major textbook publishers reacted by emphasizing more phonics earlier in their series. Chall's book was updated in 1983 (3rd edition in 1996) with even stronger research findings to support its conclusions.
Stages of Reading Development was published in 1983. In 1996, Chall and three graduate students wrote a guide to evaluating the level of texts' reading difficulty, Qualitative Assessment of Text Difficulty: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Writers.
Chall's last work, published posthumously, was The Academic Challenge: What Really Works in the Classroom (2000). In it, she divides American instruction into "child-centered" and "teacher-centered" approaches, suggesting that the twentieth century was dominated by the former (discovery approaches) in spite of the research that supported a later theory (explicit teaching).
Professional leadership positions
- Fellow in American Psychological AssociationAmerican Psychological AssociationThe American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
- President of National Conference on Research in English
- Board Member of International Reading AssociationInternational Reading AssociationThe International Reading Association is an international professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading....
's Board of Directors - Board Member of National Society for the Study of Education's Board of Directors
- Served on National Advisory Committee on DyslexiaDyslexiaDyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
and Related Reading Disorders - Served on the National Reading Council