Biography

After teaching for 9 years in inner city, suburban, and rural public schools as a general or special education teacher or a reading specialist, Dr. Berninger (B. A. Psychology, Elizabethtown College, 1967; Ph.D., Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, 1981) became a faculty member at Harvard Medical School (1981-83), Tufts University Medical School (1983-1986), and University of Washington (1986-2016). A licensed clinical psychologist, initially in Massachusetts and then in Washington State, her clinical psychology experiences included interdisciplinary teamwork in hospital settings (assessment and consultation with schools for specific learning disabilities, developmental disabilities, and congenital and acquired physical disabilities and other neuropsychological disorders), private practice (assessment and consultation with schools), and supervision of interns. At the University of Washington, she taught graduate students in school psychology, learning sciences and human development, and graduate and undergraduate students in other programs at the university, advised M.Ed. and Ph.D. students, and supervised dissertation research. Over the course of her career she has been a co-investigator on a variety of research grants, Principal Investigator on NICHD grants for writing and reading development and related neuropsychological processes and instructional interventions for writing and reading, 1989-2008, and Principal Investigator on NICHD multidisciplinary research center grants (family genetics, brain imaging, diagnostic, and treatment research) for learning disabilities such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Oral and Written Language Learning Disability (OWL LD) that affect literacy learning, 1995-2006, 2011 to 2017. She was Co-Principal Investigator on a Department of Education grant on math talent, typical math learning, and twice exceptional students with math talent and math disabilities, 1993-1996. She authored or co-authored 214 peer reviewed research articles, 67 book chapters, 12 authored or co-authored books, and 7 edited or co-edited books as well as other kinds of publications and served on editorial boards for journals. Among honors she received were the Samuel Torrey Orton Award, International Dyslexia Association, 2015; the OWL Award for Outstanding Work and Leadership, Slingerland® Institute, 2015; the Lifetime Achievement Award, School Neuropsychology Society, 2013; and the Alan S. Kaufman “Excellence in Assessment Award,” Fordham University, 2013. She retired from the University of Washington in December 2016 but has remained professionally active in translating research findings into professional practice.

Representative Research Publications

   Berninger, V., Richards, T., Nielsen, K., Dunn, M., Raskind, M., & Abbott, R.  (2018). Behavioral and brain evidence for language by ear, by mouth, by eye, and by hand and motor skills in literacy learning. International Journal of School and Educational Psychology, 7(1), 182-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683603.2018.1458357
   Richards, T., Nagy, W., Abbott, R., & Berninger, V. (2016).  Brain connectivity associated with cascading levels of language.  Journal of Systems and Integrative Neuroscience, 2(3), 219-229.  https://doi.org/10.15761/JSIN.1000139
   Berninger, V., Abbott, R., Cook, C., & Nagy, W. (2017). Relationships of attention and executive functions to oral language, reading, and writing skills and systems in middle childhood and early adolescence. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(4), 434-449.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219415617167
   Silliman, E., & Berninger, V. (2011). Cross-disciplinary dialogue about the nature of oral and written language problems in the context of developmental, academic, and phenotypic profiles. Topics in Language Disorders, 31(1), 6-23. https://doi.org/10.1097/TLD.0b013e31820a0b5b
   Berninger, V., Richards, T., & Abbott, R. (2015). Differential diagnosis of dysgraphia, dyslexia, and OWL LD: Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence. Reading and Writing, 28, 1119-1153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9565-0
   Berninger, V., Nagy, W., & Beers, S. (2011). Child writers’ construction and reconstruction of single sentences and construction of multi-sentence texts: Contributions of syntax and transcription to translation. Reading and Writing, 102, 151-182.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9262-y
   Berninger, V., & Richards, T. (2010). Inter-relationships among behavioral markers, genes, brain, and treatment in dyslexia and dysgraphia. Future Neurology, 5(4), 597-617. https://doi.org/10.82217/fnl.10.22
   Berninger, V., & Abbott, D. (2010). Listening comprehension, oral expression, reading comprehension and written expression: Related yet unique language systems in grades 1, 3, 5, and 7. Journal of Educational Psychology,102(3), 635–651. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019319
   Abbott, R., Berninger, V., & Fayol, M. (2010). Longitudinal relationships of levels of language in writing and between writing and reading in grades 1 to 7. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 281-298. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019318
   Berninger, V., Abbott, R., Nagy, W., & Carlisle, J.  (2010). Growth in phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in grades 1 to 6. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 39(2), 141-163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-009-9130-6
   Berninger, V. (2009).  Highlights of programmatic, interdisciplinary research on writing. Learning Disabilities: Research and Practice, 24(2), 68-79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5826.2009.00281.x
   Berninger, V., Nagy, W., Tanimoto, S., Thompson, R., & Abbott, R. (2015). Computer instruction in handwriting, spelling, and composing for students with specific learning disabilities in grades 4 to 9. Computers and Education, 81,154-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.10.005