1999 Outstanding ELA Educator Award Winner

Louise Rosenblatt is the fifth recipient of the NCTE Outstanding Educator in the English Language Arts Award. The Outstanding ELA Award recognizes a distinguished national or international educator who has made major contributions to the field of language arts in elementary education.  

Dr. Rosenblatt was Professor Emeritus of English Education at New York University, where she directed the Doctoral Program in English Education. She taught at Barnard College, Columbia University, Brooklyn College, and Northwestern University. She also was a visiting Professor at Rutgers University.

Educated at Columbia University, the University of Grenoble, and the University of Paris, she received a doctorate in comparative literature from the Sorbonne.

Her professional career included numerous activities including membership in the Commission on Literature, Commission on Human Relations, General Education Board, Commission on English, College Entrance Examination Board, chairmanship of the Committee on Reading and Literature, and Consultant to U.S. Office of Education, National Assessment of Educational Progress, New York State Department of Education. She was also a member of various NCTE committees.

In addition to her recognition as Outstanding Educator in English Language Arts, she was honored as the recipient of the Franco-American Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, Great Teacher Award, New York University, Leland B. Jacobs Award for Literature, Lifetime Research Award, National Conference on Research in English, Distinguished Alumna Award, Barnard College, Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Arizona, and various NCTE awards including distinguished Lecturer, Distinguished Service Award, Russell Award for Distinguished Research, and Assembly for Literature Award. She was also elected to the Reading Hall of Fame by the International Reading Association, and included in various listings of Who’s Who.

Dr. Rosenblatt published numerous works, including books and articles in scholarly and professional journals. She contributed to volumes in the NCTE Commission on the English Curriculum as Chairman of the Committee on Reading and Literature in the First Two Years of College.

Read the article about Louise Rosenblatt by Nicholas J. Karolides which appeared in Language Arts, Volume 77 Number 2 in November, 1999.  (PDF) 

Read the March 2005 issue of Voices from the Middle, "Remembering Louise Rosenblatt."

Selected List of Publication Chapters

"Looking Back and Looking Forward," Voices in International English, M. Maguire, Ed., National Council of Teachers of English, 199?

"The (Pendulum-)Swinging Eighties," Writing Theory and Critical Theory, J. Clifford & John Schilb, Eds., Modern Language Association, 1994.

"The Transactional Theory of Reading and Writing," Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading, R.B. Ruddell, M.R. Ruddell, Harry Singer, Eds., International Reading Association, 1994.

"Literary Theory," Handbook of Research on Teaching the Language Arts, J. Flood et.al., Eds., 1991.

"Retrospect," Transactions with Literature, E.J. Farrell & J.R. Squire, Eds., National Council of Teachers of English, 1990.

"Writing and Reading: The Transactional Theory," Reading and Writing Connections, J.M. Mason, Ed., 1989.

"The Literary Transaction," The Creating Word, P. Demers, Ed., 1986.

"The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work," Researching Response to Literature and the Teaching of Literature, C. Cooper, Ed., 1985.

"Language, Literature, and Values," Language, Schooling, and Society, S. Tchudi, Ed., 1985.

"The Reading Transaction: What For?" Developing Literacy, R. Parker & F.A. Davis, Newark, DE. International Reading Association, 1983.

"On the Aesthetic as the Basic Model for the Reading Process," Theories of Reading, Looking, and Listening, H.R. Garvin, Ed., Bucknell Review, 26.1, East Brunswick, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1981.