Dr. Patricia A. Edwards, an International Reading Association (IRA) Past President and Distinguished Professor of Language and Literacy in the Teacher Education Department at Michigan State University, presented the keynote speech Expanding Opportunities to Address Urban Illiteracy in the U.S. at the World Literacy Summit at Oxford University, United Kingdom, upon the invitation of the World Literacy Foundation’s Board of Directors.

The public can access her PowerPoint presentation on the World Literacy Summit website.

The World Literacy Foundation is an independent not-for-profit charitable body that is committed to providing effective programs to address literacy needs around the world. The Summit is a global literacy initiative that has been developed in partnership with Oxford University and a number of key literacy groups and experts. The Summit brought together over 400 key delegates such as Ministers of Education, NGOs, literacy experts, literacy practitioners, educators, and key literacy leaders from around the world.

Dr. Edwards was the 2010-2011 IRA President. She recently won the Edward B. Fry Book Award from the Literacy Research Association (LRA) for Change Is Gonna Come, co-authored by Gwendolyn Thompson McMillon and Jennifer D. Turner, and co-published by the International Reading Association and Teachers College Press. She just released the book Bridging Literacy and Equity: The Essential Guide to Social Equity Teaching with Althier Lazar and Gwendolyn Thompson McMillon (Teachers College Press). The three authors wrote an article about social equity teaching for the August/September 2012 issue of Reading Today, which is available for Association members to read online.