Pioneering Women in Literacy Research

In 1965, Jeanne joined the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a tenured professor. She founded the Harvard Reading Laboratory in 1966 and served as its director for more than two decades.

Jeanne Sternlicht Chall (January 1, 1921 – November 27, 1999) was a Polish psychologist, writer, and educator. An influential researcher on the stages of reading development, she was one of the first to explore complex ideas and methods about how children learn to read and how environmental factors influence children's reading ability. She devoted more than 50 years to developing and popularizing methods used in teaching reading, helping to eradicate illiteracy.

Psychologist, writer, educator Jeanne Sternlicht Chall

Jeanne Sternlicht Chall was born in Shendishov, Poland. She immigrated to the United States at the age of seven. Although English was not her native language, she learned it quickly and showed early academic excellence. She graduated with honors from the City College of New York in 1941, and received her Master's and Doctorate degrees from Ohio State University in 1947 and 1952, respectively.

While at Ohio State University, Jeanne's career in education began when she collaborated with Edgar Dale to develop the "Dale-Chall Reading Comprehension Formula" in 1948. This formula was designed to assess the complexity of a text and its appropriateness to the reader's ability. This formula became one of the most widely used measures of reading comprehension and is still used today.

In 1965, Jeanne joined the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a tenured professor. She founded the Harvard Reading Laboratory in 1966 and served as its director for more than two decades. Under her leadership, the laboratory became a center for advancing reading research and training educators.

The book “Learning to Read: The Great Debate” (1967) by female professor

The professor was dedicated to teaching and research. She focused on reading comprehension in children and wanted to help those who had trouble understanding information. Her famous book, "Learning to Read: The Great Debate" (1967), was a response to why many children did not learn to read well. Through analyzing numerous studies and classroom observations, she concluded that early, systematic phonics instruction was essential to developing effective reading comprehension. This view was initially controversial but later became widely accepted, shaping contemporary literacy education. Following this success, her research expanded to adult education, as well as the needs of poor and minority children.

The professor founded the Harvard Reading Laboratory in 1966 and served as its director for more than two decades. The lab is still active today.

Jeanne Sternlicht Chall retired in 1991 but continued her research on literacy education until her death in 1999. Her pioneering research and dedication to literacy have left a legacy of scholarship that has given hope to countless children and adults in the field of education.

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