With sad hearts we announce that Dr. Joanne Yatvin passed away peacefully on Sunday, November 17, 2024.
For 45 years Joanne was a deeply committed, involved, and accomplished educator. After graduating with a degree in English and Dramatic Arts from Douglass College (Rutgers) she became an English teacher in middle school; taught English as a foreign language for two years in Puerto Rico, where she learned Spanish, and then returned to the United States to continuing teaching; Joanne and her family moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1963, where she taught various grades, eventually being promoted to Chair of the English Department at Madison Memorial High School; earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum Development and Applied Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1974; became an elementary school principal at Crestwood Elementary School; was the proud winner of the Wisconsin Principal of the Year Award in 1985; relocated to Portland, Oregon in 1987 where she served as the superintendent/principal of the Cottrell School District; and worked part time as an adjunct professor at Portland State University.
Joanne’s other professional pursuits included conducting independent research in high poverty Oregon schools; writing three books discussing curriculum for teachers (later translated into other languages); serving as the sole school-based reading professional on the congressionally mandated National Reading Panel until 2000; and serving as the 2006 president of the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English). In addition to her books, which continue to sell to this day, Joanne was a frequent contributor to professional publications, as well as her hometown papers, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. As an experienced and highly successful teacher of children and other educators, Joanne was a powerful advocate for a “whole language” approach to teaching reading, and an outspoken critic of the so-called “structured language” flavor of the moment programs.
In 2015 Joanne started “the treasure hunter” blog at joanneyatvin.org, where she wrote mostly about education, because: “I continue to care deeply about the profession I’ve served. I will be a critic of its faults and a supporter of its strengths as long as my head and hands still work together.” In later years, she also wrote wittingly, unwittingly, and wittily about her life and struggles, as her memory and communications skills started to fade.
Joanne met her late husband, Milton Yatvin, Ph.D., in college. He was studying agriculture at Rutgers University while Joanne was studying at Douglass. During their 66-year marriage, they loved to travel abroad, go to concerts, movies, and the theatre (one of Joanne’s favorite pastimes). In addition to living in New Jersey, Madison, Portland, and Puerto Rico, they spent Milton’s sabbaticals in Belgium, England, and Israel. Following Milton’s death, she moved to Philadelphia to be closer to family. Together Joanne and Milton raised four children: Alan, Bruce, Lillian, and Richard.
In her free time, Joanne loved spending time with her family, a good book, swimming, cross country skiing, writing, and cups of tea over long games of Scrabble. Joanne will be remembered through many seven letter words, like scholar, courage, and devoted.
Joanne will be greatly missed by her sister and life-long Scrabble adversary, Helen Kapner, and her four grandchildren, Jeremy, Sarah, Daniel, and Jordan.
The family will be sitting shiva and receiving friends on Wednesday, November 20th from 5:30-8:00 PM, at the home of Alan and Laura Yatvin, 6391 Overbrook Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19151. Contact Alan if you would like to attend virtually.
In lieu of flowers and cards, friends and family are asked to donate to the Lillian Aked Yatvin Scholarship Fund at the University of Wisconsin-Madison set up by Milton and Joanne in memory of their daughter, to support students in the School of Social Work, at
The Treasure Hunter 
How lovely that you used Joanne’s blog to let us know she had passed. I am sorry she died but oh so glad she lived. I do not remember when Joanne and I first met but we were in email contact before I moved to Portland. And once we were here, Joanne and I connected up and were glad to be with each other. My husband and I went to the movies and dinner and the symphony with Joanne and Milton. We had such lovely times. And I remember us being together at NCTE, Joanne holding onto my arm as we walked around. Joanne was a lovely, kind, caring person. And she was a remarkable leader in her field. Joanne’s “minority reponse” to the National Reading Panel Report was incredibly important to the field. She was known as a great person, a wonderful educator and a wise scholar. We stayed in touch for a while after she moved east. I vividly remember her writing about the isolation of COVID and it’s impact on people’s cognitive abilities. She wondered if those abilities would be restored post-isolation. Joanne was my friend; she was a friend to so many people. She made a difference in the world. I was fortunate to know her. She will be missed.
LikeLike
My husband and I would like to participate virtually in the shiva on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 5:30 Eastern time. Please let us know the next step. Thank you. Jerry Larkin and Anne Kolibaba Larkin Portland, Oregon
LikeLike
so sorry to hear of her passing; so glad that i was able to meet her when Save Our Schools demonstrated against Arne Duncan in Portland, OR. She was a great help when i tried to show the Yakima(WA) school board the discrepancies in the National Reading Panel Report of the Subgroups and Summary Booklet.
LikeLike
so very sad to hear about Joanne. I loved her and learned so much from her
LikeLike