The Teacher's Resource Book for Improving Reading

Jerry L. Johns has been recognized as a distinguished teacher, writer, outstanding teacher educator, and professional development speaker for schools, school districts, and conferences. He has taught students from kindergarten through graduate school and also served as a reading teacher. Jerry spent his career at Northern Illinois University. He served in leadership positions at the local, state, national, and international levels. He has been the president of the International Literacy Association, the Illinois Reading Council, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers, and the Northern Illinois Reading Council. He also served on the board of directors for each of these organizations, as well as the American Reading Forum. Jerry has authored or co-authored nearly 300 articles, monographs, and research studies as well as over 40 professional books and instructional materials for students. 

Jerry has been the recipient of numerous awards for his contributions to various professional organizations. He received the Outstanding Service Award from the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers and was honored by the Illinois Reading Council (IRC) with induction into the IRC Reading Hall of Fame. Other recognitions include the Alpha Delta Literacy Award for Scholarship, Leadership, and Service to Adult Learners, the A.B. Herr Award for outstanding contributions to the field of reading, and the Laureate Award for life-long contributions to the field of reading presented by the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers. The International Literacy Association renamed the Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award in his honor. Most recently, he has been elected to the International Reading Hall of Fame and selected to receive the William S. Gray Citation of Merit from the International Literacy Association.

David D. Paige is a Professor of Literacy Education and Director of the Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic at Northern Illinois University. David entered education as a middle school special education teacher in a high needs school in Memphis, TN. Following the completion of his doctorate from the University of Memphis, David joined the faculty at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky where he was co-founder of the Ph.D. in Education and Social Change program and served as its inaugural chair. While at Bellarmine, David was the principal researcher for the Bellarmine Literacy Project, a 4-year, $3.2 million project that trained 800, K-3 teachers across 73 schools in foundational skills. In 2011, David founded the Thinking Skills Academy, a ten-year initiative to train teachers across eight states in India in methods to encourage higher-order thinking and literacy in students. For this work, David received the Homines Pro Aliis Award for service to others from Bellarmine. In August of 2020, David joined the faculty at Northern Illinois University where he has worked to align foundational skills instruction to research and has pursued a research agenda focused on early and adolescent literacy. David has served as Treasurer and President of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers from whom he received the Laureate Award for lifelong contributions to the field of literacy. David has published about 75 scholarly articles in national and international journals ranging from The Reading Teacher to Reading Research Quarterly. David is a co-author of Artfully Teaching the Science of Reading and The Reading Steward's Handbook.