John Z. Strong

John Z. Strong, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Literacy Education in the Department of Learning and Instruction in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. He also serves as Associate Director of Research in the Center for Literacy and Reading Instruction. A former high school English language arts teacher, his research interests include reading and writing instruction and assessment in elementary and secondary grades. His research focuses on developing and testing reading and writing interventions to support students’ foundational reading skills and comprehension of complex texts, with an emphasis on the role of text structure knowledge in reading and writing. His research emphasizes equitable literacy instruction and improving literacy achievement for diverse populations of students who are traditionally underserved by public schools.

Dr. Strong has published in leading journals, including Reading Research Quarterly and Scientific Studies of Reading. He is coauthor of the books Differentiated Literacy Instruction in Grades 4 & 5: Strategies and Resources and Literacy Instruction with Disciplinary Texts: Strategies for Grades 6-12. He has received external funding from the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the International Literacy Association (ILA). He received the ILA Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan Outstanding Dissertation Award and was named a Reading Hall of Fame Emerging Scholars Fellow. He served as an associate editor of The Reading Teacher and serves on the editorial review boards of Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Journal of Literacy Research, Reading & Writing Quarterly, and The Elementary School Journal. He has served in numerous leadership roles in the Literacy Research Association, New York State Reading Association, and Niagara Frontier Reading Council.

• PhD, University of Delaware, Education, Literacy Development and Learning Problems (2019)
• MEd, University of Delaware, Reading (2014)
• BA, University of Delaware, English Education (2010)

• UB Exceptional Scholar – Young Investigator Award; University at Buffalo; 2024-06-03;
• Service to Reading Award; Niagara Frontier Reading Council; 2023-06-14;
• Best Paper Award; Literacy Research Association; 2020-12-01;
• Emerging Scholars Fellowship; Reading Hall of Fame; 2020-08-03;
• Timothy & Cynthia Shanahan Outstanding Dissertation Award; International Literacy Association; 2020-07-28;

• Tortorelli, L. S., Strong, J. Z., & Anderson, B. E. (2024). Multisyllabic decoding achievement and relation to vocabulary at the end of elementary school. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 246, 106018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106018
• May, H., Strong, J. Z., & Walpole, S. (2024). The effects of Bookworms literacy curriculum on student achievement in grades 2-5. Scientific Studies of Reading, 28(3), 321–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2023.2284811
• Strong, J. Z., & Anderson, B. E. (2023). Effects of a summer tutoring program on reading achievement in grades K-5. Reading & Writing Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2023.2266807
• Strong, J. Z. (2023). Investigating the effects and social validity of an informational text structure intervention for reading and writing in grades four and five. Reading Psychology, 44(7), 820-852. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702711.2023.2202172
• Strong, J. Z. (2023). Measuring text structure awareness in upper elementary grades. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 39(1), 16-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/10573569.2022.2025508

• Anderson, B. Strong, J., Fronczak, D., & Walpole, S. (2024, July). Effects of a summer tutoring program on word reading and vocabulary in primary grades. Paper presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading 31st Annual Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark.;
• Strong, J., Tortorelli, L., Anderson, B., Cho. E., & Fronczak, D. (2024, July). Effects of a multicomponent intervention on reading skills and motivation in grades 4-5. Paper presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading 31st Annual Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark.;
• Tortorelli, L., Strong, J., & Anderson, B. (2024, July). Multisyllabic decoding achievement and relation to vocabulary in fourth and fifth grade. Poster presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading 31st Annual Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark.;
• Strong, J. Z., & Anderson, B. E. (2023, December). Effects of a summer tutoring program on elementary students’ word recognition, oral reading fluency, and silent reading comprehension. In B. E. Anderson (Chair), Reading instruction in the elementary grades: Leveraging and expanding the research architecture. Symposium conducted at the Literacy Research Association 73rd Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA.;
• Strong, J. Z., Tortorelli, L. S., Anderson, B. E., Fronczak, D., & Cho, E. (2024, April). Development of a multicomponent reading intervention in upper-elementary grades: Findings from a design experiment. Paper to be presented at the 2024 American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.;

• Center for Early Literacy and Responsible AI (CELaRAI): Innovating Beginning Reading Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners; Federal; Institute of Education Sciences; Awarded; (09/01/2024-08/31/2029)
• Read STOP Write: Development of a multicomponent intervention in grades 4-8.; Foundation and Research Organization; Advanced Education Research and Development Fund; Awarded; (07/01/2024-12/31/2025)
• Read STOP Write: Development of a multicomponent intervention in grades 4-5; Foundation and Research Organization; Advanced Education Research and Development Fund – Reading Reimagined: Equitable Foundational Literacy Research with Older Learners; Awarded; (09/01/2022-06/30/2024)

• Editorial Review Board, The Elementary School Journal
  06/01/2024-05/31/2025
• Editorial Review Board, Reading & Writing Quarterly
  10/01/2023-12/31/2024
• Editorial Review Board, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy
  01/31/2021-12/31/2024
• Editorial Review Board, The Reading Teacher
  01/31/2021-06/01/2022

• Literacy Research Association P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award Committee
  12/01/2021-12/31/2024

• Associate Editor; The Reading Teacher
  06/01/2022-06/30/2024