Alumni Ambassadors

Evelyn Johnson

Image
evelyn johnson headshot
Job title
Vice President of Riverside Insights
Academic year
2016
Discipline
Education
Project
"Early Arabic Literacy Development"
Institution
Countries

Dr. Evelyn Johnson is a Professor Emeritus at Boise State University and a vice president of research for Aperture Education at Riverside Insights, a developer of research-based assessments. She was previously a Medical Service Corps Officer in the U.S. Army. Evelyn was a Fulbright Scholar to Qatar University, where she focused her research on early Arabic literacy development. As a nationally recognized reading researcher, Evelyn was interested in understanding literacy development in Arabic, one of the top three languages other than English spoken by U.S. K-12 students. Together with researchers from the Middle East, she coauthored the Test of Early Arabic Literacy Skills, the first standardized assessment of Arabic reading.   

After returning from her Fulbright in Qatar, Evelyn continued working on Arabic literacy development with the researchers from Qatar University, through a grant from the Qatar National Foundation. Her project had wider impact in her home city of Boise, demonstrating a commitment to providing educational experiences to support multilingual students, since the community is home to a growing Arabic speaking population as a newcomer center for immigrants and refugees. 

 

Ask Me About: 

  • Creating lasting research partnerships 
  • Cooperating with organizations that are relevant in your field