Martin Nystrand is Louise Durham Mead Professor of English Emeritus and former director of the National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement (CELA). His research focuses on the dialogic organization of discourse in both writing and classroom discourse. His writing research examines how writing-reader interaction shapes writers' writing process and development: The Structure of Written Communication: Studies in Reciprocity Between Writers and Readers (Academic Press, 1986). His classroom discourse research, in collaboration with sociology professor and current director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Adam Gamoran, probes the role of classroom interaction in student learning and was the first large-scale empirical study to document the role of open classroom discussion in student learning: Opening Dialogue: Understanding the Dynamics of Language and Learning in the English Classroom (Teachers College Press, 1997). His study, “Questions in Time: Investigating the Structure and Dynamics of Unfolding Classroom Discourse” (with L. Wu, A. Gamoran, S. Zeiser, D. Long, Discourse Processes, 35 (2003), 135-196) was the first-ever use of event-history analysis to investigate classroom discourse.

In recognition of his research, Professor Nystrand was awarded the 2011 Distinguished Lifetime Research Award from the National Conference on Research in Language and Literacy (NCRLL).

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National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement--Discourse Environment and Student Achievement