Kylene Beers, PhD, a beloved member of the International Literacy Association for 35 years, passed away on June 20.
A tireless advocate for literacy and beloved educator and author, Kylene’s work transformed how we teach and engage with young readers. Her passing leaves a profound void in the world of education —as evidenced by the outpouring of heartfelt messages
on her Facebook page—but her legacy endures in classrooms, libraries, and minds around the world.
Kylene began her career as a middle school teacher, where she first recognized the disconnect many struggling readers experienced with traditional instruction. That insight became the foundation for a career devoted to closing that gap—not through rigid prescriptions, but with compassion, curiosity, and trust in every student’s potential for learning. Her groundbreaking book
When Kids Can’t Read, What Teachers Can Do became a beacon for educators seeking practical strategies for teaching literacy.
She was published in several ILA journals as well as
Literacy Today, where she shared unique insight into independent reading along with colleague Bob Probst in
a wildly popular article from 2021. The two have co-authored several influential works including
Notice & Note and
Disrupting Thinking, which urged educators to move beyond compliance-driven instruction and foster deeper engagement with texts. Kylene and Bob were also featured speakers at the
ILA 2018 Conference, where they shared their philosophy not only on building better readers, but also shaping more thoughtful, empathetic citizens.
The two participated in the ILA Next Middle Pathway Workshop, a professional learning event centered on teaching in digital and hybrid settings. They led participants through a writing prompt modeled after the poem “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyons, where Kylene shared that writing is more than a way to show what we’ve learned, stating that, “Sometimes, like in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, we should probably use writing as a way through what we’re feeling.”
As a former president of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Kylene was a respected leader and voice for student-centered pedagogy. In 2024, NCTE awarded her the James R. Squire Award, to which Bob wrote in her nomination letter, “She has been a model of devotion to teachers and students, to the development of literacy for all, that we would do well to emulate.”
Most recently, Kylene organized and hosted literacy institutes at her ranch in Waco, Texas, where she engaged with teachers from across the United States and Canada. Her final project, the next institute, is currently taking place as of this writing, proving her ongoing contribution to literacy education will continue to inspire the next generation of educators.
Kylene will be remembered for her tireless efforts to reach students, her pioneering insights into reading, and her endless joy for supporting all teachers.
If you would like to share a personal remembrance of Kylene, please email social@reading.org.
