Literacy Now

The International Literacy Association (ILA)  yesterday introduced an upcoming, four-part weekly blog series on overcoming the digital divide. Starting August 21, the series is an extension of ILA’s latest brief, which explores deficits in digital literacy as both a cause and a consequence of socioeconomic, racial, gender, geographic, familial, and other factors.

The brief discusses two forms of digital divides: one of access to technology and the Internet, and another of implementation. Without strong instruction that supports “exploration, knowledge work, and connections between people,” students are not able to harness the academic potential and the social and economic benefits of these tools, according to ILA.

ILA also recognizes limitations imposed by the types of devices available (e.g., students cannot perform the same functions on a smartphone as they can on an iPad); location (some devices are prohibitively expensive in parts of the developing world); gender inequality (male students tend to have more developed technology skills); and parenting behaviors (parents’ income, knowledge, and interest affect children’s digital skills acquisition).

The brief ends with a call to action, identifying four critical steps educators can take to close the digital divide: increase funding, critically frame 21st-century skills, provide resources, and advocate for government support and policy changes.

Each blog post in the series will serve as a how-to guide on how to tackle one of the four critical steps. The guides will be grounded in peer-reviewed research and firsthand conversations with experts.

“We understand the systemic, underlying issues that are driving the divide. But now what? We wanted to take it a step further,” says Marcie Craig Post.

“We can’t afford to wait for help from corporate funding, government subsidies, and policymakers. While we work toward solutions on a national and international plane, we can start by confronting the issue on a district level, a school level, a classroom level, or even a student level,” she adds.

ILA hopes the guides will help educators embrace their role in leveling the playing field to ensure that students are being exposed to the same devices, using the same programs, receiving the same quality of instruction and support, engaging in the same mental activities, and gaining the same knowledge and experience.

“There are small changes educators can make to help narrow the gap, inch by inch,” says Post. “These patchwork solutions can have life-changing outcomes.”

Alina O’Donnell is the editor of Literacy Daily

The International Literacy Association (ILA) extends its deepest sympathies to the family of Heather Heyer, who tragically lost her life this past weekend, and the dozens more who were injured in Charlottesville, Va.

We also mourn the loss of Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates and offer our condolences to their loved ones.

As a literacy organization, we rarely suffer from a lack of words, but in this instance, we find ourselves struggling.

For now, we will say this:

ILA stands with Charlottesville. We stand with those who have vowed to fight racism and xenophobia. We stand with those who denounce the violence fueled by both.

We are committed to providing resources to literacy educators across the globe to help them fight injustice from the classroom. And we will continue the conversations within the education community that demonstrate how literacy can enact social change.

We hope that you will join us in these efforts. 

Lara Deloza is the senior communications manager at ILA.

Monita K. Bell, senior editor at Teaching Tolerance, and Stephen Sye, associate executive director at ILA, joined host Larry Jacobs on Education Talk Radio yesterday to unpack some of the ideas that drove ILA’s first social justice panel, which has amassed more than 8,000 views on Facebook Live to date.

The panel, “Disrupting a Destructive Cycle: How Literacy Drives Social Change,” was inspired by an on-the-fly addition to the ILA 2016 Conference & Exhibits, which took place days after the shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, the Dallas sniper attack, and the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

“We just found a room at our conference and invited people to come have difficult conversations,” said Sye. “These educators had students who were coming to them with questions.”

Moderated by Nikole Hannah-Jones, an investigative reporter covering racial injustice for The New York Times Magazine, the panelists at the ILA 2017 panel, including Bell, discussed how they are using literacy to disrupt cycles of inequality and affect social change, starting in the classroom.

“We realized there was a hunger for this information,” Sye said.

Literacy: the bottom line of education

When asked how she became involved in the panel, Bell discussed the social and political contexts of literacy, and how it’s critical to her work at Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. She recognizes a broader definition of literacy that transcends the traditional notions of reading and writing.

“Literacy runs through everything else. It’s reading—but it’s not just reading books—it’s reading the world around you,” she said.

Sye agreed that literacy has an “all-encompassing” definition that is constantly evolving and expanding to include new forms. He believes that these nontraditional forms—particularly media, digital, and political literacies—empower students to meaningfully participate in social and political issues.

“At ILA, we think that literacy is a civil right,” Sye said. “We see it as a way to ensure social justice and to enact social change. It’s a pathway to civic engagement.”

It starts with the teachers

Educators have a responsibility to deconstruct biases in the classroom—starting with their own, according to Sye. He said that honest self-reflection is the first step in dismantling systemic bias.

“How can you change the landscape without first understanding the landscape?” Sye asked.

Sye highlighted tools that help educators to identify their own prejudices, such as Hidden Bias Tests. He also stressed the importance of professional development experiences and online resources, such as ILA’s research-based position statements, policy briefs, and advocacy toolkits, as well as Teaching Tolerance’s learning plans, perspectives texts, teaching strategies, and more.

Passing the torch

Although she believes that social change starts with educators, Bell said her ultimate goal is to empower them to “pass the torch” to the next generation of changemakers.  

“When everyone’s not getting those rights, students need to have a lens to see that, to question it, to challenge it, and then [to] take action against it,” Bell said.

On the heels of the 2016 U.S. election, the Southern Poverty Law Center administered a survey about school climate to K–12 educators from across the country. The report, titled “The Trump Effect,” summarized 10,000 responses, many citing incidents of verbal harassment, racial slurs, derogatory language, and threats involving swastikas, Nazi salutes, and Confederate flags.

Bell said these events illustrate that social progress is not linear; for every step forward, there’s pushback. She said teachers have a responsibility to make students aware of their role as future leaders.

“It takes committed action for things to change. It’s not inevitable,” said Bell. “Now we know that the rights that we celebrated with the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, some of those rights are being scaled back.”

Back to school: teaching tolerance from day one

Jacobs asked Bell to share tips for educators who are preparing to teach tolerance in the upcoming school year.

Bell said that Teaching Tolerance recently unveiled a website redesign with new features such as “The Moment,” which currently offers back-to-school resources, including a guide to instituting Mix It Up at Lunch Day, a campaign that encourages students to cross social boundaries in the cafeteria. 

Another guide, “A New Set of Rules,” helps teachers to engage their students in building a classroom constitution that governs their own behaviors, interactions, and mediation activities.

Bell said that when students work together to define their own rules and responsibilities, they are more likely to hold themselves and their peers accountable. By establishing a culture of cooperation early on, students are more willing to participate in difficult conversations, according to Bell.

“Part of that is hearing each other’s stories,” she said. “Someone just said on our advisory board last week, ‘Once you hear someone else’s story, it’s harder for you to hurt them.’”

Listen to the archived recording of the radio segment here.

Alina O’Donnell is the editor of Literacy Daily.

The International Literacy Association (ILA) unveiled a revised draft of the Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 (Standards 2017) at the ILA 2017 Conference & Exhibits in Orlando, FL, incorporating feedback from the public comment period that took place earlier this year. The presentation was delivered by ILA 2017 Standards Revision Committee cochairs Diane Kern, associate professor at the University of Rhode Island, and Rita Bean, professor emerita, University of Pittsburgh.

Standards 2017 establishes criteria for literacy professional preparation programs throughout the United States, and will also be a resource for states, policymakers, and those hiring literacy professionals. They are performance based and draw from professional expertise and research in the literacy field.

Key shifts include the following:

Title change: The title will change from Standards for Reading Professionals to Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals, reflecting the shift to incorporate all facets of literacy in ILA’s mission.

Expanded and clarified roles: Standards 2017 delineates three roles of specialized literacy professionals: reading/literacy specialists, literacy coaches, and literacy supervisors/coordinators. The clarified roles intend to help preparation programs better meet candidates’ specific goals.

The reading/literacy specialist’s primary role is to work with students who need specialized instruction or intervention and with peers to support tiered instruction; the literacy coach works with adults, leading adult professional learning at the team and school levels, supporting building-wide literacy learning. The supervisor/coordinator’s role is to lead the development and the evaluation of the school or district literacy program.   

The other roles are classroom teachers, principals, teacher educators, and a new role, “literacy partners,” which includes allied professionals, teaching assistants, families, and community agencies. 

More rigorous practicum experience: Standards 2017 will add a seventh standard: Practicum/Clinical Experiences. Candidates must engage with individual and groups of students across grade levels and also serve as “novice coaches” to support adult peers. They must work in at least one school-based setting, and receive observation and ongoing feedback by qualified supervisors.

Greater focus on advocacy: Standard 4 is now named “Diversity and Equity” to reflect an increased focus on advocacy for learners from a wide variety of cultural, linguistic, and racial backgrounds, for inclusive and affirming classroom and school environments, and for equity at school, district, and community levels.

Emphasis on digital learning: Standards 2017 aims to increase exposure to and use of digital technology in preparation program coursework. Candidates will be required to use a variety of print and digital materials and to integrate digital technologies in appropriate, safe, and effective ways.

More support for collaborative learning: The word collaborative will appear often throughout Standards 2017 (e.g., “Candidates engage in collaborative decision making with colleagues to design, align, and assess instructional practices and interventions”). Programs may need to accommodate candidates engaging in and leading collaborative learning methods.

Stronger partnerships: Several standards now have a component focused on fostering home–school and community partnerships. Coursework may incorporate more service learning projects while practicum experiences may incorporate community engagement activities.

The revised Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 (Standards 2017) will go to Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) for feedback and, pending approval, will be published in 2018. All reading/literacy specialist educator preparation programs must adopt the new standards by spring 2020.

Alina O’Donnell is the editor of Literacy Daily.

Cinnamon scones.

That’s what was on Cornelius Minor’s mind as he left for the International Literacy Association (ILA) 2016 Conference & Exhibits for his first ILA conference experience. Just two days earlier, he had watched the livestream of the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Philando Castile, which came on the heels of the Alton Sterling shooting in Baton Rouge, LA.

He felt angry, helpless, and heartbroken.

“I walked into school that day, visibly carrying my hurt. Wondering what I would say. I needed allies. And my colleagues were eating scones,” said Minor. “Cinnamon scones. I can still smell them.”

Minor, a lead staff developer at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, had reached a breaking point.  He never wanted a student to feel the way he felt walking into the breakroom at work that day. He sent a letter to ILA’s Executive Board, asking if it was possible to add a space for educators to gather and talk about the week’s events, which also included the killing of five Dallas police officers. The resulting “Impromptu Conversation Led by Cornelius Minor” was immediately added to the conference’s agenda. Minor modeled how teachers could talk about emotionally charged and controversial topics to a passionate, standing-room-only crowd.

It was considered by many to be a highlight of ILA 2016.

Minor’s session inspired ILA to add a new event to this year’s lineup: “Disrupting a Destructive Cycle: How Literacy Drives Social Change.” Moderated by The New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, ILA’s goal was that the panel would encourage more literacy educators to facilitate difficult conversations in the classroom centered on topics like racism, implicit bias, and equity—issues confronting students every day. Students need an outlet and support. Educators need tools.

Partnering with Heinemann to broadcast the event via Facebook Live to reach more educators around the globe, the forum took place on Saturday, July 15 at the ILA 2017 Conference & Exhibits in Orlando, FL. Approximately 250 educators attended in person and 7,500 people on Facebook Live have watched it to date.

Joining Minor on the panel were Monita K. Bell, senior editor for Teaching Tolerance; Deborah Delisle, executive director at ASCD; Zareen Jaffery, executive editor of Salaam Reads; Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education; and Gene Luen Yang, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

In her keynote speech, “Literacy as Liberation,” Hannah-Jones walked the audience through the history of the criminalization of literacy and segregation in education, starting with 18th-century slavery and arriving at present day. Her takeaway? Despite landmark decisions like Brown v. Board of Education and (mostly) well-intentioned education reform efforts, the U.S. education system is still separate and unequal.

“The classrooms in Detroit are abysmal,” Hannah-Jones said. “You have students who’ve never taken home a textbook in 13 years. Who don’t have enough chairs. Who have moldy food. Where the water is not drinkable. Who are being assigned third-grade worksheets when they’re in high school, but that’s because they’re reading at a second-grade level.”

This was not shocking to Thomas, a “product” of the Detroit public school system who returned to the Detroit classroom as a teacher for six years before she, and most of her other young, black colleagues, were fired.

“I was expensive to employ. I was a traditionally certified public school teacher,” she said.

Over the next hour, the panelists talked about what they’re doing to disrupt cycles of inequality and affect social change. Thomas believes that one of the most important steps administrators can take is to remove the structural barriers to teacher candidates of color by developing a strategic plan around diverse hiring practices.

Delisle, who formerly served as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Education under President Barack Obama, recognized the social constructs on very early stages of children’s lives. She emphasized the need for stronger teacher training programs that prepare teachers to walk into a classroom and challenge the status quo.

“Are they ready to have critical conversations among themselves? In addition, are they willing to question what books are used, what novels are promoted, what kinds of conversation and discourse they can actually have in a classroom? And even among themselves, are they able to question their own practices?”

Panelists also discussed the importance of using books and texts that reflect a mosaic of races, cultures, religions, ages, genders, and sexual orientations to help students identify with literature and connect books to their life.

“When I was a kid, it was hard to find stories with characters who looked like me or lived like me,” said Yang. “I think one of the reasons why I love superheroes so much is because almost every superhero has a dual identity. As an Asian American, that was my reality.”

As a Pakistani-American Muslim, Jaffery also failed to see her own experiences reflected in the books she read as a young girl. In 2016, she founded Salaam Reads, an imprint of Simon & Schuster that focuses on children's and young adult books featuring Muslim kids and families. Her intent was to promote a more nuanced and honest portrayal of the everyday lives of Muslim families.

Bell believes that bias reduction starts internally. She said that educators should practice self-reflection to observe their own biases, with the assistance of online tools such as Project Implicit's Hidden Bias Test, or by seeking out professional development opportunities that engage specifically with bias. Once they have conquered their own biases, she recommends educators use Teaching Tolerance’s classroom activities with their students.

“You don’t know what you don’t know about yourself,” said Bell. “Once you recognize these things in yourself, you can start to do the work to counter it.”

During the conversation, half of the attendees were silent, motionless, absorbed. The rest couldn’t sit still; they were live Tweeting, clapping, and shouting out in agreement.

Juli-Ann Benjamin was among the attendees who was too enthralled to pick up her phone. In the 22 years she has served as a teacher, assistant vice principal, and now, a literacy coach, in the New York and New Jersey public school systems, very few professional development experiences have truly resonated with her experiences as a black educator.

“I’ve come to ILA for seven or eight years and have never felt more included and happy to be a black educator,” she said. “I’m a happier ILA member because I now see myself within the workshop sessions.”

Outside of the session, a flurry of social media activity has sustained since Saturday.

Hannah-Jones, along with ILA, hopes that the panel will continue to reach more educators and help them normalize conversations about race and social justice, and empower their students to become agents of social change.