The International Literacy Association (ILA) announced today the next editor team to lead the organization’s most popular journal, The Reading Teacher (RT)—and the group is the largest, most diverse team named in the publication’s history.

The editor team includes

	Rachael Gabriel, Professor of Literacy Education and Director, Reading and Language Arts Center, University of Connecticut, United States
	Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica, Associate Professor of Teaching, School of Education, University of California, Davis, United States (effective July 1)
	Allison Briceño, Associate Professor and Coordinator, Multilingual and Multicultural Literacy M.A. Program, San José State University, United States
	Navan Govender, Lecturer, Applied Language and Literacy Studies, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom
	Eliza Braden, Associate Professor of Elementary Education, University of South Carolina, United States
	Sanjuana Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Literacy Education and Codirector, Academy for Language and Literacy, Kennesaw State University, United States
	Roberta Price Gardner, Associate Professor of Literacy Education, Kennesaw State University, United States
	Melissa Derby, Senior Lecturer and Codirector, Early Years Research Centre, University of Waikato, New Zealand

New editors to focus on inclusive, equity-oriented literacy education

Gabriel is a former member-at-large on the ILA Board of Directors and was serving in 2020 when the ILA journal editors issued a joint call to action on how the literacy and research community must contribute to overcoming racial injustice. The application statement prepared by her team of editors show that they are poised to carry on that call.

They outlined a vision that builds upon RT’s strengths and seeks further avenues for creating united global communities through the journal’s authors, reviewers, and readers.

“Our team includes diverse expertise, experience, and perspectives, yet we share a similar goal for RT: to ensure it not only reflects but leads the field in inclusive, equity-oriented literacy education,” the team wrote. “Together, we bring with us insights from practice, research, lived experience, and diverse approaches to scholarship, allowing us to tap into the productive force of our differences to help push the field forward.”

The team’s combined research interests include early literacy, the role of family in building foundational literacy skills, equitable practices for multilingual students, critical literacies, discipline-specific literacy instruction, diverse children’s literature, and the intersections among literacy, language, race, ethnicity, gender, and culture.

Unique to this team: They plan to alternate through the role of senior editor so they each have the opportunity to take the helm during their tenure. Gabriel and Rodriguez-Mojica are first up as senior editors.

“We are all limited by what we can imagine and that to which we have been exposed,” the team wrote. “By convening the largest and most diverse editorial team in the journal’s history, we aim to expand what is possible for practitioners and researchers alike.”

The incoming team’s four-year term begins June 15, 2023, and concludes June 30, 2027.

Their first year overlaps with the final year of outgoing editors Tanya Wright, Michigan State University; Patricia Edwards, Michigan State University; Laura Tortorelli, Michigan State University; John Z. Strong, University at Buffalo, New York; and Emily Phillips Galloway, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee.

Nicola Wedderburn, executive director of ILA, said there were multiple high-quality teams considered during the application process, but the seamless collaboration of this group was unmatched.

“Their geographic differences were anything but a barrier. In fact, the varying perspectives and region-specific knowledge that they bring to the table is one of the aspects that makes them a perfect team for this role,” Wedderburn said. “Their vision and mission for the journal strongly aligns with ILA’s vision for the future. Our organization is committed not only to serving but also to representing educators around the globe.”

RT is the leading global journal for educators of literacy learners up to age 12, offering high-quality, evidence-based teaching tips, and ideas plus the teacher perspective. The reach and influence of the journal is extensive. RT had 1.2 million article views in the last year and has a circulation of more than 6,700 academic institutions.