CURRICULUM VITAE

Lakeisha R. Cooper Johnson

March 2020

University Address
University of the District of Columbia
Speech-Language Pathology Program
4250 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
(803) 840-0452
lakeisha.johnson2@udc.edu

Education
2008-2012 Ph.D., Florida State University. Tallahassee, Florida. Communication Science and
Disorders. Concentration: Literacy implications for culturally and linguistically diverse
populations.

2006-2008 M.S., Florida State University. Tallahassee, Florida. Communication Science and
Disorders.

2002-2006 B.A., South Carolina State University. Orangeburg, South Carolina. Speech Pathology
and Audiology.

Professional Certification
2010 Certificate of Clinical Competence; American Speech-Language-Hearing​ ​Association

Professional Experience
2019-present Affiliated Faculty​, Florida Center for Reading Research, Tallahassee, FL
2018-present Assistant Professor​, Speech-Language Pathology Program, University of the District of
Columbia, Washington, DC
2016-2018 Research Scientist​, Urban Child Study Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2014-2017 Project Coordinator, ​Georgia Learning Disabilities Research Innovation Hub, Georgia
State University, Atlanta, GA
2014-2017 Part-time Instructor, ​Department of Educational Psychology, Special
Education, & Communication Disorders, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2013-2014 Consultant, ​Florida Center for Reading Research, Tallahassee, FL
2013-2014 Postdoctoral Research Associate​, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2012-2013 Assistant in Research​,​ ​Florida Center for Reading Research, Tallahassee, FL
2012 Communication Camp Supervisor, ​Department of Communication Science &
Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2008-2011 Speech-Language Pathologist​, ​Ruediger Elementary, Leon County Schools,
Tallahassee, FL

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 Awards, Honors, & Recognition
2019 Scholar of Promise, ​College of Arts and Sciences, University of the District of
Columbia, Washington, DC.
2010 Glenn-Howell Minority Educator of the Year, ​Ruediger Elementary School,
Tallahassee, FL
2009 Travel award​, Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison,
WI
2008-2012 Leadership Training Partnership to Prepare Personnel in Communication 
Disorders: Improving Language and Literacy Outcomes for Children with 
Disabilities in High Poverty Communities​, Department of Communication & Science 
Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 
2008 Outstanding Second-Year Master’s Student, ​Department of Communication &
Science Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2007 Outstanding First-Year Clinician​, Department of Communication & Science Disorders,
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
2006-2008 Improving Language & Literacy Outcomes for Children with Communication
Disorders in High Poverty Communities: A Personnel Preparation Grant​,
Department of Communication & Science Disorders, Florida State University,
Tallahassee, FL
2006 Jennifer Mungo Student of the Year award,​ South Carolina Speech Language Hearing
Association Conference, Myrtle Beach, SC
2005 ASHA Minority Student Leadership Program​, National Convention, San Diego, CA

Research & Scholarly Activities

Grants Funded
Webb, M., ​Johnson, L.C​., & Terry, N.P. (2019). ​Validation of CELF-P2 for Low-Income African
American Prekindergartners Who Speak Non-Mainstream American English. N ​ ational Institutes of
Health: Small Research Grant Program (R03). ($151,500 over two years: Co-Principal
Investigator).
Johnson, L. C. ​(2017). ​YMCA of Metro Atlanta Research Practice Partnership. ​The Metro ​Atlanta
YMCA, the United Way of Greater Atlanta, and the Woodruff Foundation (Subcontract for Research
and Evaluation). ($137,595 over one year: ​Principal Investigator).
Terry, N. P., & Bingham, G. E. (2011-​2017).​ ​The ​YMCA-Read Right Project. T ​ he Metro Atlanta
YMCA, the United Way of Greater Atlanta, and the Woodruff Foundation (Subcontract for Research
and Evaluation). ($923,238 over six years: ​Co-Principal Investigator).
Johnson, L. C.​ (2012). ​Dissertation Research Grant​. Congress of Graduate Students,
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL ($750).

Grants Submitted/Not Funded

Johnson, L.C.,​ Webb, M., & Terry, N. P. (2017). Exploring language and executive functioning
in preschoolers from urban environments. National Institutes of Health: National Institute on Deafness
and Other Communication Disorders Early Career Research Award. ($300,000).
Johnson, L. C. ​(2016). ​The Impact of Classroom Quality on Executive Functioning and Oral
Language in Children Living in Poverty.​ Foundation for Child Development: Young Scholars Program.
($150,000).

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Johnson, L. C.​ (2015). ​Executive Functioning and Dialect Knowledge in African American
Children​. National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program. ($35,000).

Publications
Book Chapters (published and in press)
James, R.L. & ​Johnson, L.C.​ (in press). Impact of nonmainstream dialect use in the language
assessment of young African American English Speakers In E. Saiegh-Haddad, L. Laks, C.
McBride (Eds.), ​Handbook of Literacy in Diglossia and Dialectal Contexts: Psycholinguistic
and Educational Perspectives.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles (published and in press)

Johnson, L. C​. & Gatlin-Nash, B. (in press). Evidence-based practices in the assessment and
intervention of language-based reading difficulties among African American learners.
Perspectives on Language and Literacy.​
Gatlin-Nash, B., ​Johnson, L.C.​, & James, R.L. (2020). Linguistic Differences and Learning to Read for
Nonmainstream Dialect Speakers. Perspectives on Language and Literacy. Manuscript under
review.
Terry, N. P., Gatlin, B., & ​Johnson, L. C.​ (2018). Same or different: How bilingual readers
can help us understand bidialectal readers. ​Topics in Language Disorders, 38, ​50-65.
Johnson, L. C.​, Terry, N. P., Connor, C. M., & Thomas-Tate, S. (2017). The effects of dialect
awareness instruction on nonmainstream American English speakers. ​Reading and Writing​, DOI
10.1007/s11145-017-9764-y.
Terry, N. P., Connor, C. M., ​Johnson, L. C.,​ Stuckey, A., & Tani., N. (2016). Dialect variation,
dialect-shifting and reading comprehension in second grade. ​Reading and Writing, ​29(2), 267-295.
Connor, C. M., Phillips, B., Kaschak, M., Apel, K., Kim, Y., Al Otaiba, S., Crowe, E., Thomas-
Tate, S., ​Johnson, L. C​., & Lonigan, C. (2014). Comprehension tools for teachers: Reading for
understanding from prekindergarten through fourth grade. ​Educational Psychology Review, 26
(3), ​379-401.

Presentations
Refereed Presentations and Symposia
Thomas-Tate, S., Connor, C. M., & ​Johnson, L. C.​ (2013, March). ​Design experiments:
Developing and testing and intervention for elementary school-age students who use
non-mainstream American English dialects.​ Oral talk presented at the annual convention of the
Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness, Washington, DC.

Research Presentations (National/International)

Carrera, A., ​Johnson, L.C.,​ & James, R.L. (2019, November). ​Exploring the cognitive advantage in
children who speak African American English.​ Poster presented at the annual convention of the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Orlando, FL.
Webb, B., James, R.L., ​Johnson, L.C​., & Saucedo, F. (2019, November). ​Executive function
performance of African American kindergartners on two measures: An exploratory study.​ Poster
presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,
Orlando, FL.

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Johnson, L.C.​, James, R.L., & Terry, N.P. (2018, November). ​The relation between DeltaDVAR,
inhibitory control, language, and reading in African American students. ​Research talk presented
at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Boston, MA.
James, R.L., Chernyavskaya, E., ​Johnson, L.C.​ (2018, November). Representation of minority and
language minority children on speech-language caseloads: A systematic synthesis. Poster
presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,
Boston, MA.
Gatlin, B., Terry, N.P., ​Johnson, L.C.​ (2018, July). ​Examining the structure of dialect and language
skills among early elementary African American children​. Poster presented at the annual
convention of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Mason, R., Haring, C., Venuto, N., ​Johnson, L.C.,​ Bingham, G., & Terry, N.P. (2018, July). ​Does the
relation between primary caregiver home literacy beliefs and practices and children’s early
academic skills rely on self-regulation?​ Poster presented at the annual convention of the Society
for the Scientific Study of Reading, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Cheng, Bomi & ​Johnson, L. C.​ (2018, February). ​Relationship between executive functions and
linguistic skills in African American children in urban and rural settings.​ Poster presented at the
annual convention of the Georgia Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Atlanta, GA.
James, R. L., ​Johnson, L. C​., & Washington, J. A. (2017, November). ​Inhibitory control among
African American English speakers: A descriptive analysis.​ Research talk presented at the annual
convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Los Angeles, CA.
Mason, R., ​Johnson, L. C.,​ Dean, M. P., & Hansen, S. (2017, November). ​Oral language in
diverse learners: Implications for assessment & instruction in early childhood education​. Oral
talk presented at the annual convention of the National Association for the Education of the
Young Child, Atlanta, GA.
Johnson, L. C.,​ James, R. L., Gatlin, B., & Terry, N. P. (2016, November). ​Executive functioning
skills and its relation to oral and written narrative skills in African American children.​ Poster
presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,
Philadelphia, PA.
Gatlin, B., ​Johnson, L. C.,​ Terry, N. P. (2016, November). ​Analyzing Nonmainstream
American English use in oral and written language contexts among middle elementary students.
Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association, Philadelphia, PA.
Carriveau-Pattermann, P., Washington, J. A., & ​Johnson, L. C.​ (2015, June). ​Comparing the
developmental language skills of low-income preschoolers. ​Poster presented at the
Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, WI.
Johnson, L. C.,​ Thomas-Tate, S., & Apel, K. (2013, November). ​The impact of dialect use,

executive functioning, and metalinguistic awareness on dialect awareness. ​Poster presented at

the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Chicago, IL.
Johnson, L.C.,​ Thomas-Tate, S., Connor, C. M., & Spence, M. (2011, November). ​Impact of
dialect use on students’ writing.​ Poster presented at the annual convention of the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association, San Diego, CA.
Cooper, L​., Thomas-Tate, S., Al Otaiba, S., Gruelich, L., & Folsom, J. (2010, July). ​First grade
predictors of reading comprehension. ​Poster presented at the annual convention of the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Schools Conference, Las Vegas, NV.

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Cooper, L​., Goldstein, H., & Thomas-Tate, S. (2009, November). ​Improving the vocabulary of
low SES students with developmental delays: A response to intervention evaluation. P​ oster
presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,
New Orleans, LA.
LaPointe, L. L., Callendar, M., Chatham, B., Chen, D., ​Cooper, L​., Gingrich, L., & Obermeyer,
J. (2009, November). ​False memory in semantically related word lists: Gender and
confidence.​ Poster presented at the annual convention of the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association, New Orleans, LA.
Cooper, L​. & Thomas-Tate (2009, June). ​An examination of African American English usage
across language contexts and methods used to quantify usage. ​Poster presented at the
Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, WI.

Editorial & Review Boards

Journal Reviews
2020 Editorial Board​, Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups (Cultural
and Linguistic Diversity)
2019 Reviewer, ​Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
2016 Reviewer, ​Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
2013-2014 Reviewer,​ ​Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders
2013-2014 Reviewer​, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

Other Reviews
2014 Reviewer​, Proposals submitted for presentation at the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention (Literacy Subcommittee)
2011-2020 Reviewer,​ Applications submitted to the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association Minority Student Leadership Program

Other Research Activities

2011-2012 Graduate Research Assistant, ​Mentors: Dr. Barbara Foorman and Dr. Adrea
Trunkenmiller, Florida Center for Reading Research, Tallahassee, FL
2008-2012 Graduate Research Assistant, ​Mentors: Dr. Shurita Thomas-Tate and Dr. Kenn
Apel, Department of Communication Science & Disorders Florida State University,
Tallahassee, FL

Teaching
Courses Taught
ECED 504 Teaching Language Development in Early Childhood Education (graduate)
SPA 5401 Communication Intervention for Infants and Preschoolers (graduate)
SPLP 535 Language Disorders (graduate)
SPLP 312 Language Acquisition (undergraduate)
SPLP 698 Foundations in Literacy Development (graduate)
SPLP 500 Sociolinguistic and Theoretical Perspectives on Language (graduate)
CSD 7455 School-Age Language Disorders (graduate)
CSD 7590 Contemporary Issues in Communication Disorders (graduate)
CSD 4320 Introduction to Language Disorders (undergraduate)

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SPA 2001 Introduction to Communication Disorders (undergraduate)

Invited Lectures, Presentations, & Professional Development Workshops

Cooper Johnson, L. (2016, August). ​Language Development from Birth – 12 Months.​ Invited
presentation, CSD 7450: Language Disorders in the Young Child, Georgia State University,
Atlanta, GA.
Cooper Johnson, L. (2015, November). ​Childhood Apraxia of Speech. ​Invited presentation, CSD
7610: Motor Speech Disorders. Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.
Cooper Johnson, L. (2013, October). ​A Year in an RTI Classroom​. Invited presentation, Teach
For America, Atlanta, GA.
Cooper Johnson, L. (2011, October). ​Communication Sciences and Disorders Overview​. Invited
presentation, ARE4550C: Art Therapy with Special Populations. Florida State University,
Tallahassee, FL.
Cooper, L. (2011, January). ​Language Development and Milestones. ​Invited presentation, SPA
2001: Introduction to Communication Disorders. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
Cooper, L. (2009, April). ​School-Age Language Disorders​. Invited presentation, SPA 2001:
Introduction to Communication Disorders. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.

Service
Service to the Profession
2017-present Member, ​National Association for the Education of the Young Child
2011-present Member​, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
2008-2012 Member​, Leon County Reading Council. Tallahassee, FL
2003-2010 Member​, National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Service to the University

2018-present Member​, Clinical-Academic Collaboration Committee (Department)
2014-2017 Member​, Admissions Committee (Department)
2010-2012 Member​, Curriculum Committee (Department)
2008-20012 Member​, Multicultural Affairs Committee (Department)

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