Date Updated
11-8-2022
Department
Special Education
Academic Rank
Professor Emerita
Year Retired from SJSU
2016 (FERP 2011 - 2016)
Educational Background
University of Southern California, Department of Curriculum, Teaching, & Special Education, 1989, Ph.D.
University of Southern California, School of Education, 1978, M.S.
National Chengchi University, Department of Education, 1970, B.A.
Dissertation Title
Psycholinguistic analysis of oral reading performance by proficient versus nonproficient Chinese elementary students
Teaching Experience
San Jose State University 1990-2016
Service
Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association, 2016-2019
University Retention and Tenure Committee, 2007-2011
University Library Board, 2002-2007
Selected Publications
Chang, J. M. (2006). Key elements to build two-way Mandarin-English Immersion Programs. NABE News, 1(4), 10-11, 13, 16.
Chang, J. M. (2004). Family literacy nights: Building the circle of supporters within and beyond schools for middle school English learners (Educational Practice Report #11). Washington DC and Santa Cruz, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Hilberg, R. S., Chang, J. M., & Epaloose, G. (2004). Designing effective Activity Centers for diverse learners: A guide for teachers at all grade levels. Washington D C and Santa Cruz, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Chang, J. M., Huang, C. C., Mao, S., Ma, H-W, Montgomery, M. (2003). Developing a successful Chinese two-way immersion program. New Waves: Educational Research & Development., 8(3), 45-50.
Chang, J. M. (2003). Strategies for Effective Two-Way Immersion Programs: A Case of Establishing New Chinese Immersion Programs. NABE News, 26(6), 28-31.
Chang, J. M. (2003). Multi-level collaboration for English learners: An Asian American perspective. In G. Garcia (Ed.) English Learners: Reaching the Highest Level of English Literacy (pp. 259- 285). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Chang, J. M. (2002, November/December). Scaffold the joint venture of developing meaningful individualized education program. NABE News, 26(2), 26-30, 37.
Chang, J.M. (2002). Expanding the knowledge base on teacher learning and collaboration: A focus on Asian Pacific American English learners (Final Report). Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: Center for Research on Education, Diversity, & Excellence.
Chang, J. M. (2001, April). A scaffold for school-home collaboration for reading and language development. Research Brief #9, Santa Cruz, CA and Washington DC: Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence.
Chang, J. M. (2001, Jan/Feb.). Monitoring effective teaching and creating a responsive learning environment for students in need of support: A checklist. NABE News, 24(3) 17-20.
Chang, J. M. (1999, December). Exploring sociocultural principles of professional development for School Reform: Chinese Experiences. NABE News, 23(3), 26-29.
Chang, J. M. (1999, November). Multiple functions of multiple intelligences in the life and education of APA English language learners. NABE News, 23(2), 15-18.
Chang, J. M., Hung, D. L. & Tzeng, O. J. L. (1992). Miscue analysis of Chinese Children's Reading Behaviors at the Entry Level. Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 20(1), 120-158.
Files
Download Curriculum Vitae (109 KB)
Personal Commentary
I am a first generation Chinese American, so I am naturally interested in the issues of becoming bilingual and biliterate in the states. When I pursued school education for English learners with reading disabilities in California, my dissertation chair, Professor Robert Rueda at University of Southern California (USC), encouraged me to first study the experience of Chinese children becoming literate in a Chinese logographic writing system, which is distinctively different from an alphabetic writing system. I took his advice and started a line of research and teaching that has really enriched my research activities because I have continued my work all the way into my retirement years.
Much of my research and teaching interests are focused on Chinese/Asian English learners facing reading challenges in the classrooms either in the US or overseas. While conducting literature review, I realized that there was fewer available research based literature to enhance classroom/home-reading interventions among these student populations. Hence, I pursued postdoctoral studies upon receiving my Ph.D. at USC in order to expand research-based studies in this field. I was very fortunate to be guided by late Professor Candace Bos at University of Arizona, Tucson. I received systematic training to compete successfully for federally funded research grants in subsequent years as I advanced my career at SJSU. While I was a postdoctoral Research Associate, I had also expanded my studies on oral reading processes from monolingual Mandarin speaking children in Taiwan to Mandarin Chinese-English bilingual children in Singapore to prepare my line of studies among Cantonese-English bilingual children in California. My work that focused on reading comprehension and teacher education to support children as English learners has continuously led me to conduct school-based professional development in many schools here and overseas.
A teacher educator and educational researcher at SJSU have not been without challenges because of heavy teaching load, four courses per semester. Getting research grants was essential to buy time to conduct classroom based research activities in public schools. My applied research involved teachers, students and their parents. Their involvement was essential because the end goals were to transfer teaching and learning strategies to teachers and families in order to guide and support English learners to read and learn more effectively. However, I often had to rush back from the fieldwork to campus for numerous committee activities. In addition, the high indirect costs for research grants often cut into the funding for data analysis and writing. I truly learned the necessity to always work on budget first before designing the research phases and activities. The challenges, along with inspiration gleaned from participants in the various research projects, have truly contributed to both of my personal and professional growth. I value everything I did, learned and achieved at SJSU and in the field.
Upon retirement, I empathize with the campus colleagues for whom juggling among teaching, research and services is a constant act; it is often not that easy to receive funding for research nowadays. I joined the ERFA Executive Board in 2016-2017 and am grateful that there is an ERFA Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award for campus colleagues, which reflects the genuinely supportive atmosphere among the members of our ERFA colleagues.
As a member of ERFA Biographies Committee, I participated in piloting the ERFA Biographies Form designed for ERFA members. It was not an easy process for me to embark this task because I was brought up in a culture that discourages me to draw attention to myself. However, I honor our Board member, Bob Wilson’s view regarding the importance of people’s personal reflections in preserving SJSU history. In reality, professors and researchers have little privacy in this digital world. ERFA Executive Board has approved to adopt SJSU King Library’s ScholarWorks to host and maintain ERFA members’ biographies. Hence, in partnership with the SJSU Library, ERFA has provided a permanent space for our members to voice their own perspectives regarding their experiences at SJSU.