ILA’s direction and focus is guided by the finding of our What’s Hot in Literacy survey, which polls literacy professionals around the world to identify what topics in literacy education are hot and what topics are important. When a topic is ranked “very” or “extremely” important, but only “slightly” or “not at all” hot, we try to increase attention to the issue.
In 2017, Access to Books and Content and Literacy in Resource-Limited Settings were both ranked significantly more important than hot. This year, Literacy in Resource-Limited Settings was replaced with Equity in Literacy Education in the What’s Hot survey in an effort to broaden the topic of equity. Equity in education became a driving focus for ILA this year, as evidenced in several events at the ILA 2017 Conference & Exhibits, such as our Sparks Lunch, our preview of the documentary Teach Us All (available on Netflix), and our social justice panel (available on YouTube, via Heinemann Publications). We will continue to focus on this important theme at ILA West 2018 in March, a special two-day PD event that will focus on how educators can help close achievement gaps and promote literacy for all.
Our final #ILAchat of the year, to take place Thursday, December 14, at 8:00 p.m. ET, will also focus on equity and the inclusive classroom. This #ILAchat is being produced jointly with Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center that provides free, antibias resources to K–12 educators across the United States to promote “equality, inclusiveness, and equitable learning environments in the classroom.”
The conversation will be facilitated by a group of Heinemann Fellows, educators who are devoted to creating diverse and welcoming learning spaces for all students: Anna G. Osborn, Aeriale Johnson, Kim Parker, Tiana Silvas, and Tricia Ebarvia. Heinemann recently released a podcast featuring these Fellows about inclusivity and the need for teachers of color.
Please consider joining us for our last #ILAchat in 2017 and don’t stop using the hashtag just because the chat is over: We want to hear about how you used the information and enthusiasm from the chat to change or improve your practice. Keep coming back to the community with stories and ideas.
See you Thursday!
Wesley Ford is the Social Media Strategist for the International Literacy Association.