Jennifer Berne, Ph.D.

Jennifer Berne, Ph.D. is Dean of Liberal Arts at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. Her work at Harper includes academic leadership in The Liberal Arts, English as a Second Language, Developmental Literacy, and Adult Basic Education. In addition to those content areas, she works more broadly in the areas of Curriculum, Assessment, and Digital Learning. She holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan, an MA in English from Northeastern University and a PhD in Teacher Education from Michigan State University.

Her research interests include Classroom-based Assessment and Professional Development, particularly in the area of Literacy Education. Her research has appeared in professional journals including The Reading Teacher, The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Writing and Pedagogy, and Reading Psychology.

She has authored or co-authored books on College Composition (McGraw-Hill, 1997) High School Writing Instruction (Guilford, 2008), Guided Reading in Elementary School (Guilford, 2010), Middle Grades Literacy Education (Corwin, 2012) and Small Group Reading and Writing instruction (Teachers College, 2015).

Prior to her work in Post-secondary Administration, Dr. Berne spent fifteen years as a Professor of Teacher Education, working with pre-service and in-service teachers both in and out of classrooms on contemporary practices in reading and writing. She began her career as Full-time Faculty in English at Oakland Community College in Michigan.