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    #ILAchat: Balancing Text and Tech

    By ILA Staff
     | Feb 08, 2016

    feb chat 2016Some educators see technology in the classroom as the bright and shiny thing that will keep students engaged. Others believe so strongly in the use of texts that they eschew the use of electronics in education.

    But it doesn’t have to be one or the other, says Kristin Ziemke. This Apple Distinguished Educator believes it’s more important to balance both text and tech—it’s all in the navigation.

    Join Ziemke Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. ET for the next #ILAchat on Twitter for her perspective on transferring modeling, scaffolding, and other best practices into the digital learning environment.

    Ziemke is a teacher and staff developer. She is the coauthor of Amplify: Digital Teaching and Learning in the K–6 Classroom (Heinemann) and Connecting Comprehension and Technology (Heinemann).

    Follow #ILAchat and @ILAtoday at 8 p.m. ET Feb. 11 to join the conversation about how to find a place for both traditional text and technology.

     
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    #ILAchat: Interactive Writing

    By ILA Staff
     | Jan 11, 2016

    Tweet_chat_image_1-2016_600x600_proof1To engage students in writing, educators have turned to an approach that has one name but many forms: interactive writing. Interactive writing is the process of discussion and negotiation between student and teacher to better develop and encourage young writers. But diving into this process can be a bit daunting.

    Enter Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. Join these interactive writing experts Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. ET for the next #ILAchat on Twitter, where they’ll lay out the basics of interactive writing and give practical suggestions on how to use the method in the classroom.

    Fountas, a professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, has been a classroom teacher, a language arts specialist, and a district consultant around the world. She publishes resources for comprehensive literacy programs that quickly become staples for literacy instruction across the United States.

    Pinnell is Professor Emeritus in the School of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. She has extensive experience in classroom teaching and field-based research, and in developing comprehensive approaches to literacy education.

    Fountas and Pinnell have both individually and as a team researched in depth how students learn best and published several books, including Interactive Writing: How Language & Literacy Come Together, K–2 (Heinemann, 2000).

    Follow #ILAchat and @ILAtoday at 8 p.m. ET Jan. 14 to join the conversation about how interactive writing can support and encourage emerging writers.

     
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    “Read and Feed” Pilot Program Makes an Impact in Louisiana, Illinois

    By Mackenzie Ryan
     | Dec 21, 2015

    LT333_Feed 2Aretha Eldridge Williams used to gather struggling readers around a table for a lesson—not just any classroom table, but one supplied with cartons of milk and apple turnover snacks she’d bring from home. A free breakfast program was not yet available to students in the Jefferson Parish Public School System in Louisiana, where she taught.

    So when the International Literacy Association (ILA) and the National Association of State Title I Directors partnered to create a new Read and Feed program and Williams was asked if she was interested in piloting it at Jefferson schools, she knew she wanted to help.

    “Before children can learn, they have to have something in their stomach,” says the retired principal and longtime literacy advocate, who’s now the Louisiana Reading Association (LRA) District 6 director.

    The Read and Feed program, which provided literacy activities as a supplement to child nutrition services, was piloted in two Title I schools in Louisiana and one in Illinois this past summer. Another program is taking place this winter in Missouri with hundreds of books donated by exhibitors at the ILA 2015 Conference in St. Louis.

    This program is a natural fit for the two organizations, given Title I’s dedication to language arts and ILA’s mission to bring literacy initiatives into the areas where they are most needed.

    “By bringing literacy materials and donated books to students in these schools, and making sure they can count on nutritious meals during their school breaks, we’re ensuring they have the kind of consistency they need to achieve in school,” says ILA Associate Executive Director Stephen Sye. “We’re helping to create happy, healthy readers.”

    Feeding stomachs and minds

    Jefferson Parish, which serves communities near New Orleans, is divided by the Mississippi River. Williams worked with schools on the east and west banks: Granville T. Woods Elementary in Kenner, and McDonogh No. 26 Elementary in Gretna.

    About 110 K–4 students were already participating in existing half-day summer programs at the two schools, which are held in July to help combat the summer slide.

    “Connecting Read and Feed with our summer programs really provided the benefits that they need and targeted it to students that need the interventions,” Williams says.

    Without designated funds, Williams began contacting vendors such as Scholastic and a book seller specializing in school libraries for donations. She sought new hardbacks for reading levels between pre–K and eighth grade and collected 423 books.

    During the summer program’s lunch period, LRA members read stories, distributed books, and handed out family resources, including a calendar with suggested at-home reading activities.

    The program was so successful, says LRA state coordinator Gerri Settoon, that the council plans to expand it soon. “We’re hoping to have it in every parish we possibly can.”

    In Illinois, ILA State Coordinator Roberta Sejnost also hopes to see the program expand. In its first year, she says, the West Suburban Reading Council worked with an existing summer school program as well, one that targets specialized instruction to third graders at the Maywood-Melrose Park-Broadview School District 89, located just west of Chicago.

    Their Read and Feed program, coordinated by Kathleen Sweeney and Barbara Ashton, was designed to provide literacy activities for approximately 30 students during their regular four-week summer program. “Our part was to provide the literacy activities that correlated with the district’s curriculum and could be taken home for students to use in the evenings and weekends,” Sejnost says.

    Teachers across Illinois provided activities with a focus on writing, poetry, and vocabulary that students could do all summer long.

    The West Suburban Reading Council also collected books. In all, about 300 were also purchased with money raised by the Illinois and Illini reading councils.

    Lasting beyond summer

    In both states, the children were sent home with a collection of books to keep at the end of the programs.

    “Mini libraries,” which contained seven books with a mix of fiction and nonfiction, were distributed in Illinois in a celebration that included student poetry readings and assignments displayed on classroom walls.

    The hope is that the excitement will continue and the students’ love of literature will last beyond the end of summer—both in school and at home.

    “We wanted to keep it simple,” says Bob Harmon, CEO of the National Title I Association, of the joint initiative. “Our objective is to have kids read good, quality literature. And even just read. As simple as that—just read.”

    Sye agrees and stresses it is a simple way not only to get kids hooked on reading, but also for ILA councils to make a mark in their community.

    “This is a way for us to reach out and bring our resources and our expertise into the community,” he says. “By collaborating with other organizations that share similar goals, we make our message and our impact even stronger. The stronger the impact, the more students we reach.”

    Get involved

    If your council is interested in starting its own Read and Feed, contact ILA by e-mailing Council Services or calling 800.336.7323. ILA will connect you with the Title I contact in your state and, together, you’ll identify the best locations for a program. The program will be matched with a location that is already offering nutritional services, and you have the opportunity to make it unique by designing your own literacy component.

     
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    In Memoriam: Literacy Champions We Lost in 2015

    By Alexandra Baruch
     | Dec 17, 2015

    ThinkstockPhotos-178989139x300There were a great many bright moments throughout the year: the evolution from International Reading Association to International Literacy Association, ILA 2015, and International Literacy Day, to name a few. Sadly, there were also shadowed moments when we mourned beloved ILA members and leaders who passed away this year. Although they are no longer with us, the legacies these literacy champions leave will live on through their work and the changes that have come about as a result of their enduring commitment to our cause.

    Alan E. Farstrup, executive director of the International Reading Association (now International Literacy Association) from 1992–2009, passed away Oct. 31. A former Peace Corps volunteer, Farstrup was an avid traveler, traversing the globe to meet members and promote literacy. Among his many lifetime accomplishments, Farstrup was engaged with the Reading Hall of Fame (he was inducted in 2000), worked alongside noted researcher P. David Pearson, and was involved in the development of Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking, a professional development project in Central and Eastern Europe. Working cooperatively with the National Council of Teachers of English, as well as the Carnegie Corporation, the former executive director promoted language standards and guidelines for literacy coaches.

    Emeritus Executive Director of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Kent Williamson, passed away June 7. During his time with NCTE, Williamson promoted online learning, collaborative advocacy, and initiatives in mentoring. He oversaw the development of the National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE) and understood the importance of professional development as a continuing endeavor. The immense respect he had for other literacy associations will not soon be forgotten, nor will his efforts.

    Bernice Cullinan, renowned professor, author, and children’s literacy advocate passed away Feb. 5. Author of more than 40 titles, Cullinan was a former president of ILA’s Board of Directors. She also served as president of the Reading Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 1989. Professor of reading at New York University for 30 years, Cullinan later served on the Caldecott Award selection committee and was later named editor-in-chief of Wordsong. Her legacy lives on through her seminal work, Children’s Literature in the Reading Program, first published in 1987 and currently in its fourth edition.

    Longtime literacy leader L. Dale Guy passed away Sept. 15, after years of dedicated service to the International Literacy Association. Guy got his start teaching in a one-room schoolhouse and later worked as a consultant and reading clinician. Founding member of the provincial Manitoba Reading Association and Manitoba Council of Reading Clinicians (a special interest council), Guy dedicated his life to furthering literacy both in Canada and around the world as a member of numerous international committees. Honored with the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Literacy in 2011, Guy’s contributions to literacy will continue to resonate in both the Canadian and international communities.

    Arthur N. Applebee, former University at Albany Distinguished Professor and ILA member, passed away Sept. 20. Until his retirement in August, Applebee was chair of the school’s Department of Educational Theory & Practice and director of the Center on English Learning and Achievement. Author of 25 books and more than 100 journal articles, his first book Tradition and Reform in the Teaching of English is a classic in its field. Among his many awards and recognitions, Applebee and his wife, Judith Langer, were the first husband and wife to hold the position of distinguished professor (the highest rank in the State University of New York system).

    Literacy educator and innovator Morton Botel passed away July 6. After completing his undergraduate, masters, and doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, Botel later worked as a professor and professor emeritus of education at the university’s Graduate School of Education. A born teacher, Botel recognized his calling at age 13 and spent his life reshaping the process of learning to read and write. A Navy veteran, Botel was deployed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Kobe, Japan. Upon his return, he contributed to 200 publications and founded the Penn Literacy Network. In the past 34 years, more than 34,000 educators have engaged with the network.

    Although these literacy icons are no longer with us, their combined efforts have changed the way we teach and understand literacy fundamentally. We celebrate their lives and the lessons these leaders leave behind as we continue to promote literacy around the world.

    Alexandra Baruch is ILA’s communications intern.

     
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    Every Student Succeeds Act Signed Into Law

    By Dan Mangan
     | Dec 16, 2015

    essa-signing-bannerNo Child Left Behind (NCLB), the troublesome George W. Bush–era education initiative that sought to hold state school systems accountable for student performance by means of a national testing regime, is finally gone. NCLB, which distorted classroom teaching and resulted in most states applying for waivers after failing to meet their Adequate Yearly Progress goals, was supplanted by a major new enactment.

    In a White House ceremony last Thursday, President Barack Obama signed the bipartisan ESEA reauthorization bill into law, capping a yearlong effort to find common ground on federal support for the education of the nation’s children. Dubbed the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), the new law passed in each chamber with huge majorities, a testimony to the stalwart efforts of the leadership of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and their staffs.

    With the stroke of President Obama’s pen, the transition to a new era began, one that will be marked by a dramatic shift of oversight back to the states while maintaining—it is hoped—a strict level of accountability for the lowest performing schools and districts. Above all else, ESSA is aimed at ending, once and for all, the testing impasse that ran NCLB aground and frustrated the higher goals of improving student learning.

    Most important for the International Literacy Association (ILA), the new act includes the LEARN (Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation) provisions that authorize specific funding for improved instruction in reading and writing, a commitment sought by ILA and the other associations in the Advocates for Literacy coalition since the ESEA reauthorization effort began in earnest last January.

    What’s changed

    ESSA is more flexible, placing the responsibility for fixing underperforming schools and closing the achievement gap squarely on the states. ESSA retains the testing requirements of NCLB but grants states more discretion in determining how the tests are administered.

    Concerning accountability, NCLB required school districts to break out test scores for certain subgroups. ESSA, by contrast, requires states to submit their accountability plans to the U.S. Department of Education (USED). Test scores and graduation rates are accorded greater weight than other more subjective measures, such as student class work portfolios.

    The mandated interventions have changed as well. Under NCLB, states had up to five years to remedy underperforming schools before more severe consequences came into play, including closure. ESSA identifies three categories for mandated intervention—schools at the bottom 5% on test scores, high schools with graduation rates below 67%, and schools where subgroups are consistently underperforming—but leaves the nature of the intervention for states to decide.

    Common Core was introduced as a controversial part of the USED’S NCLB waiver program. ESSA permits states to adopt Common Core but does not require it, instead prohibiting the U.S. Secretary of Education from influencing, incentivizing, or coercing the states to adopt any academic standards.

    What LEARN does

    The LEARN provisions of ESSA provide federal support to states to develop and implement state-led comprehensive literacy instruction plans to ensure high-quality instruction and effective strategies in reading and writing from early education through grade 12. LEARN allows states to use targeted federal investments to assist local education agencies with providing appropriate interventions to help all students—birth through grade 12—graduate with the literacy skills necessary to be successful in the 21st century.

    What’s ahead

    Of course, like any major enactment, ESSA is not self-actualizing. Implementing the new act’s provisions will be as complex a task as getting the legislation passed, and perhaps somewhat less transparent. For starters, USED will need to issue new regulations to clarify and define key provisions of the law. Stakeholders will await the notice of proposed rulemaking with keen anticipation and will forward detailed suggestions during the comment period. At some point, USED is likely to conduct public hearings and promulgate official Q & A guidance.

    Of particular interest will be the rules pertaining to schools at the bottom 5% of student performance. The civil rights community has advocated against any diminution of accountability where the nation’s neediest students and school districts are concerned during the entire course of ESSA’s movement through the House and Senate.

    John King, who will soon take over for U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, said Dec. 11 that “with added flexibility for states comes great responsibility.” He also noted that “the law preserves the right of the department to withhold federal funds and place states on high risk if they’re not doing their jobs.”

    Dan Mangan is the Director of Public Affairs at the International Literacy Association.

     
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