Jonathan Schuster


Jonathan Schuster
  • ELA Research Lead

Biography

Jonathan Schuster, Ph.D., has research interests in early word processing, the cognitive processes involved in reading comprehension, and psycholinguistics, specifically focusing on reading development. In the past, his research projects were concerned with the influence of reading goals and working memory span on reading comprehension, the meaning resolution of lexically ambiguous words, the perception of emotionally sensitive words, and the impact of text complexity on reading comprehension.

Schuster is the English Language Arts (ELA) Research Lead on the Learning Maps team at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more than 150 staff and more than $20M in annual revenues.

Schuster currently leads a project to investigate the characteristics of text-dependent analysis (TDA) instruction in middle and high school, aiming to develop a grant proposal focused on creating an intervention to improve student TDA performance. He has more than 10 years of experience developing ELA learning maps within ATLAS. He leads a team focused on developing learning map neighborhoods for several projects.

Some recent projects to which he has contributed include the Dynamic Learning Maps® (DLM®) Alternate Assessment System Writing Neighborhood project, the Shared Writing Instructional Model (SWIM) project, the Learning Map Collaboration project with the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB), the Writing and Revising Interventions to Excel (WRITE) project, and the K–2 Pathways project.

For the DLM Writing Neighborhood and SWIM projects, he helped to develop learning map neighborhoods representing the acquisition of the critical knowledge, skills, and understandings involved in writing development for students with significant cognitive disabilities and intellectual disabilities.

He investigated how early communication topics (e.g., intentional communication, attention to words, and understanding events) contribute to later ELA and math content learning for students who are deaf-blind with complex needs for the Learning Map Collaboration project with NCDB.

For the WRITE project, Schuster contributed to developing learning map neighborhoods depicting the critical knowledge, skills, and understandings needed to produce compelling written arguments within a Career Technical Education context.

Finally, he will develop learning map neighborhoods representing the learning of K–2 ELA Essential Elements for students with disabilities in the K–2 Pathways project, which is a collaboration with ETS to design and develop map-based K–2 instruction and assessment products.

Schuster earned his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Kansas.

Education

Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology, University of Kansas

Selected Publications

Swinburne Romine, R., Andersen, L., Schuster, J., & Karvonen, M. (2018). Developing and Evaluating Learning Map Models in Science: Evidence from the I-SMART project. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, Center for Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS).

Whetstone, P. J., Gillmor, S. C., & Schuster, J. G. (2015). Effects of a metacognitive social skill intervention in a rural setting with at-risk adolescents. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 34(2), 25-35.

Schuster, J., & Erickson, K. (2014). Text complexity in the Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment (White paper). Dynamic Learning Maps Consortium: Lawrence, KS.

Atchley, R. A., Ilardi, S., Young, K., Stroupe, N., O'Hare, A., Bistricky, S., Collison, E., Gibson, L., Schuster, J., & Lepping, R. (2012). Depression Reduces Perceptual Sensitivity for Positive Words and Pictures. Cognition & Emotion, 26, 1359-1370.

Atchley, R. A., Grimshaw, G., Schuster, J., & Gibson, L. (2011). Examining lateralized lexical ambiguity processing using dichotic and cross-modal tasks. Neuropsychologia, 49, 1044-1051.

Ritchey, K., Schuster, J., & Allen, J. (2008). How the relationship between text and headings influence readers’ memory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33, 859-874.

Selected Presentations

Schuster, J., Kobrin, J. L., Clark, A., & Swinburne Romine, R. (2022, April 21-26). Evaluating text complexity at different writing development stages for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities. In E. Plummer Catena (Chair) Writing and writing instruction: Perspectives and practices [Paper Session]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, United States.

Schuster, J., Clark A. K., & Swinburne Romine, R. (2021, March 8-13). Developing effective writing instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities [Multi-presentation session]. Council for Exceptional Children Annual Meeting, virtual.

Schuster, J., Swinburne Romine, R., & Clark, A. (2019, April 5-9). Writing instruction and assessment for struggling learners [Paper presentation]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Schuster, J., & Swinburne Romine, R. (2019, April 4-8). Development of learning maps as models of the content domain [Paper presentation]. National Council on Measurement in Education Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Schuster, J. & Swinburne Romine, R. (2015, April 8-11). Increasing text accessibility for students with significant cognitive disabilities [Conference presentation]. Council for Exceptional Children Convention and Expo, St. Louis, MO.

Swinburne Romine, R., & Schuster, J. (2014, April 3-7). Moving beyond learning progressions to dynamic learning maps: A validation study [Roundtable discussion]. American Educational Research Association annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Schuster, J. G., Clark, A. K., Mark, C. A., & Shin, S. (2012, April 11-14). Multiple pathways to literacy: The Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment System [Conference presentation]. Council for Exceptional Children Convention and Expo, Denver, CO.

Atchley, R. A., Azevedo, N., Schuster, J., & Kehayia, E. (2012, November). Using electrophysiological measures to study lexicality judgments [Poster]. Cognitive Neuroscience Society, Chicago, IL.

Schuster, J., Atchley, R. A., Grimshaw, G., Gibson, L., Williams, C., & Menager, J. (2009, June). Lateralized meaning access for lexically ambiguous auditory stimuli [Poster]. Theoretical and Experimental Neuropsychology, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Schuster, J., & Atchley, R. A. (2008, October). Influence of reading goals and working memory span on reading [Poster]. Conference of the Mental Lexicon, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Schuster, J., & Atchley, R. A. (2007, November). Influence of reading goals and working memory span on reading and recall [Poster]. Psychonomic Society, Long Beach, CA.