Professor Addresses Society’s Need for
Literacy Training
With the implementation of Common Core State
Standards, training literacy educators is now a national
priority. As a result, St. John’s University’s comprehensive
literacy education programs — many of which were designed by Francine
Guastello ’79Ed, ’82GEd, ’84PD, ’98Ed.D., Associate Professor
and Chair of Human Services — are growing in popularity and earning
acclaim for responding to changing social and market trends.
Coordinator of the Graduate Literacy Program in The School of
Education (SOE), Dr. Guastello has played a central role in
helping St. John’s to become a leader in literacy. In addition to
her contributions to the University’s Reading and
Writing Education Center, which serves the New York area, she
spearheaded the School’s dual master’s degrees, designed nine other
literacy programs and helped develop the new doctorate in the
field.
“Dr. Guastello has introduced breakthrough concepts like family
workshops and multisensory reading techniques,” said Jerrold Ross, Ph.D.,
Dean of The School of Education. “These achievements, and others,
have put St. John’s on the higher education literacy map.”
Dr. Guastello’s interest in literacy began in the fourth grade.
“My cousin, who was a classmate, was having a hard time learning
how to read,” she said. “It turned out he was dyslexic, but we
didn’t know that then. I suggested he try touching and tracing the
letters to learn the sounds, and then I read aloud with him. To my
amazement, he started to improve. That’s when I first knew I wanted
to be a teacher.”
She never veered from this early decision. Having earned four
degrees at St. John’s, Dr. Guastello decided she wanted to teach
here. “From the moment I set foot on campus in 1976,” she said, “I
knew this is where I was meant to be.” Captivated by the
University’s Vincentian values, Dr. Guastello
became a faculty member in 1999, finding the fertile ground she
needed to grow and realize her potential.
She started her career teaching at Catholic elementary and
junior high schools. Eventually becoming a principal, she gained an
appreciation for the importance of engaging parents in the
education process and the need for promoting a supportive learning
community. Later, she drew on these experiences by helping Dean
Ross to forge partnerships with New York Catholic schools.
Dr. Guastello actively supports the University’s Vincentian
mission. A Seton Associate of the Sisters of Charity (NJ) and Senior
Vincentian Research
Fellow, she serves on the board of
St. John’s Institute for Catholic Schools and is Co-Director of
the institute-funded Project Tie (Training Innovative Teachers).
She brings her literacy teaching and diagnostic skills to each of
these organizations, also finding time to mentor St. John’s
freshmen as part of Project Safe and to contribute her expertise to
various University committees.
“The way she gives so selflessly to so many has influenced me
tremendously,” said Jaclyn Janaszak ’13Ph.D. Inspired by Dr.
Guastello, Dr. Janaszak used her training to tutor a dyslexic woman
who sought assistance from the School Sisters of
Notre Dame Education Center to prepare for her GED. “I knew
this was what Dr. Guastello would do in my place,” Dr. Janaszak
said.
“This gives me great satisfaction,” said Dr. Guastello. “But
nothing pleases me more than when students tell me I have exposed
them to career-enhancing opportunities and given them support when
they most needed it.”
All of which explains why St. John’s presented her with its
Medal for Outstanding Achievement, Vincentian Mission and Teaching
Excellence and Scholarship Awards. Honored by this
recognition, Dr. Guastello confided, “I never, in a million years,
would have imagined that I would chair my department one day.”