oday’s literacy professionals face many new demands: heightened pressure to
raise students’ scores on standardized assessments, the need to accommodate an
increasingly diverse student body, and the emergence of new technologies that are
constantly expanding our notion of literacy.
With all we know about teaching and learning in the 21st century, how can
we ensure that the next generation of literacy professionals will drive literacy
achievement for all students?
Every five years, ILA convenes a committee to revisit and revise our
professional preparation standards. In July 2015, a group of literacy scholars,
educators, professionals, researchers, principals, and union representatives
from across the United States met in St. Louis, MO, at the ILA 2015 Conference
to collectively examine how we can better prepare future educators for the
challenges and opportunities of 21st-century education.
Countless conference calls, virtual work sessions, and iterations later, Standards
for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 (Standards 2017) will be published
in May. We talked to Rita Bean and Diane Kern, cochairs of the Standards Revision
Committee 2017, about the implications of these new standards.
Incorporating all facets of literacy
One of the most significant changes starts with the title, which changed
from Standards for Reading Professionals (Standards 2010) to Standards for
the Preparation of Literacy Professionals. Bean says this change mirrors the
organization’s transition from the International Reading Association to the
International Literacy Association in 2015, reflecting ILA’s expanded mission.
By focusing on literacy rather than reading, Standards 2017 emphasizes skills
and competencies needed to succeed in our increasingly technology-driven and
globalized world.
“A major change was from emphasis on reading only to a broader emphasis on
literacy,” says Bean. “We had to look at how people could prepare reading coaches
to effectively provide experiences so that candidates would be able to teach in
ways that encompass all aspects of literacy.”
Kern says that Standard 1, which outlines “foundational knowledge,”
highlights the positive relationship between reading and other communications;
when students improve in reading, other communications will improve in turn.
“There’s a recursive process between reading and writing and language
acquisition,” she says. “Standards 2017 and its own organizational shift toward
literacy really honors that reciprocity between these aspects of gaining literacy.”
Encouraging literacy leadership
Currently, very few universities and states offer separate credentials for reading/
literacy specialists and literacy coaches. By delineating three distinct roles of
specialized literacy professionals—reading/literacy specialists, literacy coaches,
and literacy coordinators/supervisors—Standards 2017 will enable preparation
programs to meet more specific goals and may create opportunities for new
Bringing teacher preparation programs into the 21st century
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM
STANDARDS 2017
By Alina O’Donnell
Alina O’Donnell
(aodonnell@reading.org)
is the communications
strategist at ILA and the
editor of ILA’s blog, Literacy
Daily.
LITERACY
LEADERSHIP
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literacyworldwide.org | May/June 2018 | LITERACY TODAY