LITERACY TODAY | September/October 2018 | literacyworldwide.org
Too Important to Miss
Eliza Byard, executive director of GLSEN,
led a dynamic panel at the ILA 2018
Conference on creating inclusive classroom
environments for LGBTQ students. The
panelists discussed the dangers of staying
silent, creating social–emotional benchmarks,
intersectional thinking, and more. If you
missed this powerful conversation, you can
read the recap at literacyworldwide.org/
ila2018-panel or watch the archived recording
on our Facebook page at facebook.com/
InternationalLiteracyAssociation/videos.
Where We Stand
The following literacy leadership briefs from
ILA are now available at literacyworldwide
.org/statements:
Improving Digital Practices for Literacy,
Learning, and Justice: More Than Just Tools,
published in July, explains how educators
can use digital resources to facilitate more
authentic and equity-driven forms of literacy
instruction that better prepare youth for
civic, academic, and vocational pathways
beyond schools.
Exploring the 2017 NAEP Reading Results:
Systemic Reforms Beat Simplistic Solutions,
published in August, unpacks the 2017 National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and
2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy
Study (PIRLS) results; addresses concerns that
reading scores of U.S. students have remained
flat for the past decade; and discusses systemic
approaches to improving reading
comprehension.
Beyond the Numbers:
Using Data for Instructional
Decision Making, coming in
October, discusses how data
can provide insights about
student learning by acting as
a portrait, a highlighter, and a
springboard.
Literacy Service
Learning Project
During the ILA 2018 Conference, the East Central-Eastern
Illinois University Reading Council, spearheaded by president-
elect Melissa Wheeler, partnered with the Texas Association
for Literacy Education to collect school supplies for Refugee
Services of Texas in Austin, a social service agency dedicated to
providing assistance to refugees and other displaced persons
fleeing persecution. Together, they collected and donated 35
backpacks filled with school supplies. Wheeler also organized
a read-aloud by two authors, Steven Layne and Samantha M.
Clark, during an ESL class at a nearby church. Attending children
received books donated by Simon & Schuster, Scholastic, and
authors Janet Wong and Lori Oczkus.
“It was a truly beautiful experience,” says Wheeler. “I believe
that literacy is a powerful tool that can be used to bring about
social justice and equity in education, both here at home and
around the world.”