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Dr. Young Choi

School of Education

Specializations: Early Childhood Education, Science of Reading, Teacher Professional Development

Email: Young.Choi@nevadastate.edu
Phone: (702) 992-2541

Biography

Youngae (Young) Choi, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Nevada State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from the University at Buffalo. Her research focuses on early literacy development,, teacher professional development, and young children’s language socialization and agency.

Dr. Choi was the Project Director and Principal Investigator of the federally funded Futuro Project (U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition), a multi-year initiative supporting PreK–2 grade teachers across Nevada through Science-of-Reading–aligned professional development. She has had secured and led multiple grants supporting early childhood education, family engagement, teacher preparation, and student success. 

With prior experience as a classroom teacher, research scientist, and teacher educator, Dr. Choi actively collaborates with school districts, community partners, and state agencies. Her work bridges research, practice, and policy to promote equitable, high-quality learning experiences for young children, particularly multilingual learners. 

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning Concentration in Early Childhood Education
    The State University of New York at Buffalo
    08/01/2013 - 05/01/2019

Publications

  • Choi, Y., Hatcher, W., & Spinrad, M. (2024). Preschool and kindergarten teachers’ self- reported phonological awareness strategies and challenges in teaching English Learners.
    Journal of Education and Training Studies 12(3), 36-48.
    09/01/2024
  • Choi, Y. (2024). Dialogism: An L2 Preschooler’s Otherness, Voices, and Answerability
    International Journal of Contemporary Education, 7(1), 10-18.
    04/01/2024
  • Eggleston, C., Wang, X. C., & Choi, Y. (2021). Mother-toddler shared reading with electronic versus print books: Mothers’ language use and perspectives.
    Early Education and Development, 33(7), 1152-1174.
    07/01/2021
  • Wang, X. C., Choi, Y., Benson, K., Eggleston, C., & Weber, D. (2020). Teachers’ role in fostering preschoolers’ computational thinking: An exploratory case study.
    Early Education and Development, 32(1), 26-48
    05/01/2020
  • Boyd, M. P., Mykula, V., & Choi, Y. (2020). Responsive and responsible teacher telling: An across time examination of classroom talk during whole group writing workshop minilessons
    Research Papers in Education, 35(5), 574-602.
    03/01/2020
  • Choi, Y. (2020). A preschooler’s agency: Why relational types of agency emerge?
    Early Child Development and Care, 190(10), 1525-1536.
    08/01/2020
  • Boyd, M. P., Mykula, V., & Choi, Y. (2018). Dialogue as Instruction: Purposeful and Response-able Writing Workshop Minilesson Talk in a second grade classroom.
    Promoting academic talk in schools: Global practices and Perspectives. Routledge.
    06/01/2018
  • Kearney, E., Barbour, A., Choi, Y., Evans, R., Mykula, V., Pytlak, M. & Zhai, L. (2017). Growing multilingual awareness: A Guide for engaging young children with languages.
    University at Buffalo
    11/01/2017

Achievements

  • Department of Social Service, Nevada. The Clark County Outside Agency Grant (OAG) Student Childcare Support (2024-2025, $15,000)

    05/31/2024
  • Futuro Project: Teachers Transforming Nevada’s Children and Families (2022-2025), over a $2 million
    Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition.
    08/30/2022
  • Semilla Project: Planting Seeds for Future Educators (Sep. 2022-May 2023) $24,000
    NIEPRR Mini Grant
    08/31/2022
  • EC/ECSE Curriculum and Program Development Grant (Aug. 2021-May 2022) $10,000
    NV Energy Grant
    07/30/2021
  • HSI Planning Project: Amplifying climate resilience curriculum using informal learning opportunities for undergraduates (9/1 2021-8/31 2024), $300,000
    National Science Foundation. Co-PI
    08/31/2021
  • Climb Mountains Award
    Nevada State University
    12/01/2021
  • Be Bold Award
    Nevada State University
    11/30/2023
  • Teaching Excellence Award
    School of Education, Nevada State University
    04/30/2025
  • The Jason Geddes Rising Researcher Award
    Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents 
    03/01/2025