The International Literacy Association (ILA) has announced the appointment of a new editorial team for The Reading Teacher (RT), ILA’s leading journal focused on connecting literacy research with classroom practice. Bringing complementary expertise across early and middle childhood literacy, teacher preparation, and research methodology, the incoming team is committed to maintaining RT as a trusted source of rigorous, relevant, and accessible literacy scholarship.

Representing institutions across North Carolina, this six-person team brings extensive experience in literacy research, teacher education, classroom practice, and scholarly publishing.

 
• Dennis S. Davis, professor of literacy education, North Carolina State University

 
• Jill F. Grifenhagen, associate professor of literacy education, North Carolina State University


 
• Yolanda Dunston, professor, North Carolina Central University


 
• Annemarie Horton Hindman, professor of applied developmental science and special education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


 
• Rebecca Lee Payne Jordan, associate professor of literacy education, Salem College


 
• Jackie Eunjung Relyea, associate professor of literacy education, North Carolina State University

New editors bring a commitment to connecting rigorous literacy research with the needs of educators

The team’s vision centers on the distinctive role RT plays in bridging literacy research and practice. They aim to balance rigorous peer-reviewed scholarship with relevance and accessibility for classroom teachers, teacher educators, reading specialists, and other literacy professionals.

“In our view, there is no other journal in the educational research landscape quite like RT. It occupies a unique space as a practitioner journal that carefully balances usable insights with methodological rigor,” the team said. “We are proud to be in a discipline with such a vibrant community of authors dedicated to moving knowledge across the so-called knowing-doing gap.”

At a time when educators have access to a growing volume of information about literacy instruction, the team sees RT’s commitment to research-informed, peer-reviewed scholarship as increasingly important. They plan to build on the journal’s reputation by ensuring that educators have access to timely research and practical insights grounded in rigorous inquiry.

A central priority will be keeping the journal responsive to the questions and challenges educators encounter in their work. The editors plan to seek regular input from practitioners about the research they need, using those insights to help identify timely topics and inform future journal content. They also intend to strengthen the author and reviewer experience through clear expectations, efficient editorial processes, and high-quality peer review.

Davis and Grifenhagen have collaborated for a decade at North Carolina State University, and the larger team brings together literacy leaders from a range of higher education institutions, including public universities, a historically Black university, and a small private college.

Together, the editors plan to build on RT’s longstanding role as a trusted resource for educators, supporting scholarship that addresses the most pressing questions in literacy while providing clear and actionable implications for practice.

The incoming team’s term begins this year and concludes in 2030. 

RT provides the latest peer-reviewed scholarship to literacy educators working with children up to age 12. RT’s classroom-ready articles cover topics from curriculum, instruction, and assessment to strategies for teaching diverse populations of literacy learners. Full text views of RT articles garner more than a half million per year.

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