Dr. Lisa Hsin

Associate Professor, Educational Psychology/Educational Neuroscience
Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling


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Lisa Hsin

EDUCATION

Ph.D.Cognitive ScienceJohns Hopkins University
M.A.Cognitive ScienceJohns Hopkins University
B.A.Spanish and LinguisticsGeorgetown University

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AWARDS AND HONORS

YearAward
2020Nominee, Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) Early Career Award
2016, 2017Postdoctoral Fellowship Semifinalist, National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation
2009ā€“2014Graduate Trainee, Johns Hopkins University Department of Cognitive Science Unifying the Science of Language Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) grant
2007Phi Beta Kappa

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AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Language and literacy teaching and learning (reading comprehension, writing development, multilingualism)


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RESEARCH INTERESTS

Teaching and learning of language and literacy skills from early childhood through adolescence

Employing both classroom-based and lab-based methods to study how students make sense of texts and express themselves in writing

What strategies teachers can use to help students cultivate deep reading comprehension skills

How varied experiences with language can shape literacy practices


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HIGHLIGHTED PUBLICATIONS

  1. Hsin, L. B., Galloway, E. P., & Snow, C. E. (2024). Supporting social strengths amid emerging bilingualism: effects of Word Generation on social perspective taking in English learnersā€™ writing. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism27(6), 854-869.
  2. Hsin, L. B., Miratrix, L., Kim, H. Y., LaRusso, M. D., & Snow, C. E. (2023). Predictable Variation in the Implementation of a Curricular Interventionā€”and Why it Matters. The Elementary School Journal124(1), 1-30.
  3. Hsin, L., White, L., Anthony, J., de los Reyes, I. B., Holtzman, D., Martin, A., Manship, K., & Quick, H. (2022). Research brief: Engaging dual language learner families in their childrenā€™s early education. Oakland, CA: American Institutes for Research.
  4. Hsin, L. B., Mu, N., & Selman, R. L. (2021). Rights and responsibilities with tech: Studentsā€™ take on classroom policies. The Reading Teacher74(5), 549-558.
  5. Hsin, L. B., & Snow, C. E. (2020). Arguing for teachers and for friends: Eighth-gradersā€™ sensitivity to argumentation features when judging and revising persuasive essays. Discourse Processes57(10), 823-843.
  6. Hsin, L., Legendre, G., & Omaki, A. (2013). Priming Cross-Linguistic Interference in Spanish-English Bilingual Children. In S. Baiz, N. Goldman, & R. Hawkes (Eds.), Proceedings of the 37th Boston University Conference on Language Development. (pp. 165ā€“177). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

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PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

  • Founding Editorial Board Member, Language Development Research: An Open-Science Journal
  • Facilitator and Featured Panelist, English Proficiency and the Pandemic: Where Are English Learner Studentsā€™ Language and Literacy Skills Now? (webinar), Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) Southwest, 2023
  • Featured Expert, Evidence-Based Literacy Instructional Practices With Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Practices (video), Strategies To Improve Reading partnership, REL Midwest, 2023
  • Panelist, The ā€œBig Pictureā€ of Literacy, 2023 Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) National Convening, U.S. Department of Education, 2023
  • Featured Expert, Education Week series on English learner terminology (ā€œThe Debate Over English Learner Terminology, Explainedā€ and ā€œThe Evolution of Terms Describing English Learners: An ELL Glossary,ā€) 2023
  • Featured Presenter and Subject Matter Expert, Providing SRCL and CLSD Literacy Services and Activities to English Learners, U.S. Department of Education, 2021

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BIOGRAPHY

Professor Lisa Hsin is a cognitive scientist and literacy scholar who studies how children learn to turn words on a page not only into language they can understand, but into complex ideas they can use. Her work integrates findings and insights from multiple disciplines, including literacy curriculum and instruction, psychology/educational psychology, science education, linguistics/psycholinguistics, neuroscience, implementation science, and the philosophy of science. In addition to her main project studying deep reading comprehension in upper elementary and middle school, Hsin has significant interests in writing development, early reading, implementation fidelity, and multilingualism.

Hsin is committed to conducting research that matters for educational practice. She has cultivated partnerships with schools and districts across the country to identify problems of practice where her perspective and expertise can help educators improve their instruction and their studentsā€™ outcomes. Sustaining a connection between research and practice, Hsinā€™s research has been published in key outlets for diverse audiences, such as Discourse Processes, Elementary School Journal, and The Reading Teacher. She has also been called upon as a national expert on literacy learning among English learners, sharing her knowledge with state and district leaders as well as school-based educators in practitioner-focused panels and news articles.

Hsin became an associate professor of educational psychology/educational neuroscience in the College of Education in 2024. She previously held positions as senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research, postdoctoral fellow in language and literacy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and postdoctoral fellow in cognitive science at Tufts University. Before her graduate studies at Johns Hopkins, she served as a secondary Spanish teacher.