Two active, longtime International Reading Association members were recently presented with prestigious awards from the Literacy Research Association for their work in literacy.
Nell K. Duke , literacy professor at the University of Michigan and author of Inside Information: Developing Powerful Readers and Writers of Informational Text Through Project-Based Instruction co-published by IRA and Scholastic, won The P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award.
Established in 2012, the award is presented to an author whose work has demonstrated positive and impactful literacy practices and policies within a district and/or classroom setting. Presented by Taffy Raphael of the University of Illinois at Chicago at the LRA conference, it includes a monetary prize as well as a plaque. Duke was recognized for her work in the Reading Research Quarterly for the article 3.6 Minutes per Day: The Scarcity of Informational Texts in First Grade.
“It was a tremendous surprise and honor to receive the LRA P. David Pearson Scholarly Influence Award. The reason I do and disseminate research is to try to impact literacy education, particularly for children of poverty, so I especially appreciate receiving an award that focuses on scholarly impact,” Duke said. “The award is particularly special to me because I have such admiration for P. David Pearson, who is a giant in the field and has been a wonderful mentor and friend to me throughout my career.”
Her work looks to increase informational texts in the early grades and involved observing first-grade classrooms over the course of 79 school days. On each visit, data were collected about the types of texts in the classroom, showing a lack of informational texts and an average of only 3.6 minutes per day spent with informational texts during classroom activities. The article also provides assumptions about genres of texts and strategies for addressing the scarcity of informational texts.
“Since [the article’s] publication, a host of IRA members and others have been working to get more attention to informational text in early education, and there are signs that work is paying off. Now we need to make sure that the attention is the right kind of attention—that we are using the best possible practices with informational text for young children.”
Susan Neuman, editor of IRA’s Reading Research Quarterly, was awarded the Oscar S. Causy Award.
The Oscar S. Causy Award is the most prestigious honor awarded by the LRA and is presented for outstanding contributions to reading research. Named after the founder of the National Reading Conference, the award was first presented in 1967 and continues to shine a light on those promoting reading research. Laurie Henry of the University of Kentucky presented the award to Neuman for her lifetime of work in literacy research and advocacy.
To me, the Oscar Causey is the highest honor you can receive in reading research and literacy since it reflects a body of work, rather than an individual article,” Neuman said after receiving the award. “It is given to honor the lifetime achievements in research, and I felt deeply honored to receive it.
“There are a number of research articles that I’m especially proud of, all of which have appeared in Reading Research Quarterly, our flagship journal.”
The LRA is dedicated to promoting research to enrich understanding and knowledge of literacy practices in our multicultural world. The organization awards many honors each year, and all awards are presented by chairs or committee members.
Morgan Ratner is a communications intern for International Reading Association.