The International Literacy Association has released its annual What’s Hot in Literacy report. For this year’s report, the organization held focus groups with 17 literacy experts and surveyed 1,443 teachers, higher education professionals, consultants, and administrators from 65 countries and territories.
When respondents were asked to rank a set of topics in literacy education according to their importance, they identified these issues as most critical:
- Building early literacy skills through a balanced approach that combines both foundational and language comprehension instruction.
- Determining effective instructional strategies for struggling readers.
- Increasing equity and opportunity for all learners.
- Increasing professional learning and development opportunities for practicing educators.
- Providing access to high-quality, diverse books and content.
More than half of the respondents said that addressing disconnects between the school curriculum and students’ actual needs was among the greatest challenges facing literacy education, followed by supporting students with social-emotional or behavioral challenges. But how can they meet these and other challenges? Sixty-one percent of respondents said that more time to confer and collaborate with colleagues would help.
Almost every respondent (98%) agreed that literacy is a fundamental right, and 82% said that literacy educators have a role to play in addressing inequity. However, a majority (71%) agreed that variability in teacher knowledge and effectiveness was a major barrier in achieving equity.
The full survey includes information on respondents’ beliefs about teacher preparation and support and breakdowns in responses according to role.
Source: International Literacy Association. (2020). What’s hot in literacy report. Newark, DE: Author.
