Johnson is associate professor of education at the UI and visiting professor of Applied Linguistics at Shanghai International Studies University. He holds a Ph.D. (with distinction) in Educational Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania. His research, teaching, and service focus on how language policies impact educational opportunities for students in bilingual education and English language education programs. Before coming to the UI in 2013, he held faculty positions in education and linguistics at Washington State University and Texas A&M University and was a visiting lecturer at the University of Equatorial Guinea and the University of Costa Rica. He is the author of "Language Policy" (2013, Palgrave Macmillan) and co-editor of "Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide" (2015, Wiley-Blackwell, with Francis M. Hult).