International Literacy Association

International Literacy Association

Formation	1956
Purpose	Literacy
Headquarters	Newark, Delaware, United States
Region served	International
President	Kia Brown-Dudley
Website	www.literacyworldwide.org

The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading across the globe.

The organization is headquartered in Newark, Delaware, United States, with a network of more than 300,000 literacy educators, researchers, and experts across 128 countries.^[1] The current ILA President of the Board is Kia Brown-Dudley.

Publishing

ILA officially ended its book publishing program on June 30, 2018. However, the organization continues to publish three peer-reviewed academic journals:

• The Reading Teacher—for those working with children to age 12
• Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy—for teachers of older learners
• Reading Research Quarterly—publishes contributions in literacy research

Reading Online, an e-journal, sponsored by the organization, was retired in 2005.^[2]

Literacy Today^[3] (formerly titled Reading Today), ILA’s membership magazine, was published from 1983 to 2011 as a bimonthly membership newspaper. From the 2011 August/September issue forward, the publication was split into two parts: a bimonthly print magazine and an interactive digital e-zine. Literacy Today is currently an online-only quarterly magazine.

Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals, 2017 Edition

ILA champions rigorous research as the foundation for literacy leadership and as such developed research-based standards for preparing and certifying literacy professionals: Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals, 2017 Edition (ILA Standards).^[4]

Special Interest Groups

ILA offers special interest groups for members:^[5]

• Canadian SIG on Literacy
• Children's Literature and Reading
• College Literacy and Learning
• Concern for Affect in Reading Education (CARE)
• District Literacy Leadership (DiLL)
• ILARI Partnerships
• Language Experience Approach (LESIG)
• Leadership Educ. & Dev. for Educators in Reading (LEADER)
• Literacy and Social Responsibility
• Mastery Learning
• Organization of Teacher Educators in Literacy (OTEL)
• Professors of Literacy and Teacher Education (PLTE)
• Reading Disabilities

Honor Society

ILA sponsors the honor society Alpha Upsilon Alpha.

Awards and Grants

ILA offers a number of awards and grants for educators, researchers, and authors.^[6]

Grants provide the opportunity for acclaimed field members to explore research areas in reading and literacy. Awards provide recognition to renowned authors, teachers, researchers, librarians, programs, etc. Applications are considered yearly by various committees and boards. The following list describes some of the grants and awards offered but is not limited to.

• The ILA offers Elva Knight Research Grant program annually provides funds to deserving researchers focused on literacy or teaching literacy. Applicants can conduct research in any way, but they must be ILA members focusing on reading/literacy. The grant is for $5,000 each. Applications close mid-March.^[7]
• The ILA offers the Nila Banton Smith Teacher as Researcher Grant program. The $5,000 fund is offered to kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers, librarians, and literacy coaches, but teachers working directly in classrooms are favored. The grant allows teachers to explore reading, writing, or literacy related research. Applications close mid-March.^[8]
• The ILA offers the Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan Outstanding Dissertation Award. Submitted applicants win based on their doctoral research conducted regarding literacy and/or reading. The committee considers research methodology, importance, literature review, and rationale to choose winners. Sharon Walpole is currently the chair of the committee.
  • The 2023 award recipient was Lori Brunner, who received her Ph.D. from Michigan State University's College of Education. Her research revolved around preschool digital storybook apps, their introduction of new vocabulary, and their collaboration with digital enhancements. She found that digital storybooks create an advantage for children to learn more vocabulary.^[9]
• The ILA offers the Jerry Johns Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award to a higher education professor who goes beyond average teaching to provide students with progressive, scholarly education on literacy and reading, while acting as a mentor for students. The award is $1,000.
  • The 2022 award recipient was Tonya Wright, a language and literacy associate professor at the Michigan State University. Wright has been published multiple times and is also the project leader of the SOLID Start project, which stands for Science, Oral Language, and Literacy Development, from the Start of School. She was on the dissertation committee of Lori Brunner, the Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan Outstanding Dissertation Award recipient.^[10]
• Beginning in 1975, the ILA has offered a children’s literature award, which later became an annual award known as the Children’s and Young Adult's Book Awards. It is provided to authors' first or second published book that shows potential early on in their career. Many winners have gone on to receive other prominent award such as the Newbury Medal, Sibert Medal, Orbis Pictus Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Carnegie Medal, etc. The award includes six categories: Primary Fiction, Primary Nonfiction, Intermediate Fiction, Intermediate Nonfiction, Young Adult Fiction, and Young Adult Nonfiction. A committee of 15 professors, teachers, specialists, and people with experience in the field are chosen to pick one winner and one honor in each category every year. Authors from any country can apply for the award, but must be published in English in the calendar year.
  • Prominent winners of the award include Laurence Yep, Nancy Bond, Christopher Paul Curtis, Karen Hesse, Sy Montgomery, Patricia Polacco, Philip Pullman, Rainbow Rowell, Rebecca Stead, Vince Vawter, and Virginia Euwer Wolff.^[11]
  • 2023 award winners include Yong Vo for Gibberish, Shaelyn McDaniel for Hello Opportunity: The Story of Our Friend on Mars, Sarah Guillory for Nowhere Better Than Here, Barbara Binns for Unlawful Orders: A Portrait of Dr. James B. Williams, Tuskegee Airman, Surgeon, and Activist, Andrea L. Rogers for Man Made Monsters, and Jetta Grace Martin, Joshua Bloom, and Waldo E. Martin Jr. for Freedom! The Story of the Black Panther Party.^[12]

Affiliations

ILA has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1978; ILA was reclassified to have Consultative Status with UNESCO in 1996 and continues to hold this status.^[13]

References

This page was last edited on 23 May 2024, at 09:48