A draft of ILA’s eagerly awaited Standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals 2017 (Standards 2017) will be available for public comment from April 17 to May 8. In the weeks leading up to the public comment period, we’ll take a look at the significant changes proposed in Standards 2017, which will be submitted for Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) approval in fall 2017 and published in early 2018. Once approved by CAEP, ILA’s new set of seven standards will become the ruler by which preparation programs for literacy professionals, specifically reading/literacy specialists, are measured.

Standard 2 addresses curriculum and instruction in the classroom. Lead writer Beverly DeVries, professor emerita of reading at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma, said it is closely related to others, particularly Standard 3, Assessment and Evaluation, and Standard 4, Diversity and Equity.

In other words, Standard 2 identifies the skills, knowledge, and dispositions literacy professionals need to align their curriculum and instruction with their individual students or with the classroom community.

The Standard also addresses collaboration in the creation of curriculum, whether with the research from professional associations like ILA and institutions of higher education, with the Department of Education, or with local school districts.

“There has to be a connection between schools and the local universities,” DeVries said. “We believe they should collaborate on curriculum and instruction with a lot of integration.”

She said that when writing the latest revision, her team used feedback they received from reviewers, for example, incorporating more emphasis on inclusion and differentiation. She also said the diversity of her team helped inform their work.

The team for Standard 2 included the following:

• Dana Robertson, assistant professor, elementary and early childhood education, University of Wyoming
• Susan Piazza, associate professor, Western Michigan University
• Cindy Parker, educator/education management, Lexington, KY

Remember to review the Standards 2017 when it is posted for open public comment on April 17 and be sure to have your voice heard.

April Hall is editor of Literacy Daily. A journalist for more than 20 years, she has specialized in education, writing and editing for newspapers, websites, and magazines.