Last month, ILA released the Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 (Standards 2017), an update of the Standards for Reading Professionals—Revised 2010. One of the main differences should be apparent in the name, with the shift from reading professionals to a more inclusive category of literacy professionals. Much has changed in the literacy landscape over the past seven years, and the updated standards reflect those shifts in culture and technology by expanding on the definition of literacy as well as diversity and by giving more focus to digital technology.

You can find out more about Standards 2017 in this short video by Rita Bean and Diane Kern, the cochairs of the Standards Revision Committee 2017, who headed the project:

It is clear that the updated Standards 2017 can be used by colleges, universities, and other educator preparation program providers to guide program development for initial and advanced certification, endorsement, and credentialing. But what do they mean for classroom teachers, specialized literacy professionals, or even school and district administrators?

That’s the focus of our next #ILAchat, on June 14, at 8:00 p.m. ET. And to lead this conversation about how Standards 2017 can be used for personal professional learning or to evaluate practices of an entire school, we have none other than the project cochairs, Rita Bean and Diane Kern.

Bean is professor emerita at University of Pittsburgh and has over 25 years of experience teaching students preparing to be classroom teachers, reading specialists, and literacy coaches. She is the author of The Reading Specialist: Leadership for Classroom, School, and Community (Guilford) and coauthor of Cultivating Coaching Mindsets: An Action Guide for Literacy Leaders (Learning Sciences International).

Kern is an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Rhode Island. She is program coordinator for secondary English language arts education and teaches courses in educational foundations, classroom management, content area and disciplinary literacy, and English language arts methods. Previously, she taught for 14 years in public schools in urban, suburban, and rural school districts located in Florida and Rhode Island. Her research interests include literacy teacher education, standards for the preparation of literacy professionals, and cultural competence. 

Kern currently serves as ILA’s Certificate of Distinction for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals program coordinator and oversees ILA’s national recognition of reading/literacy specialist programs in the United States in partnership with the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. Bean also serves as a member of the Certificate of Distinction Leadership Team,

Join us Thursday, June 14, at 8:00 p.m. ET as we discuss how Standards 2017 can enrich educators’ practices and reveal what administrators need to know and to do to be effective literacy leaders.

See you there!