President’s Message

Dear LRA Family and Friends,

The chill in the air of Phoenix and mostly sunny days during the 72nd Annual Meeting was invigorating as we connected with long-time friends and forged new friendships and professional relationships with some of the over 900 individuals in attendance. The sheer joy and enthusiasm of being engaged in thoughtful reflection and knowledge sharing in-person with others to explore the theme “Crossing boundaries and Borders in Pursuit of Equity, Solidarity, and social Justice” generated multiple ideas for charting our future course as a community of scholars dedicated “to promoting research that enriches the knowledge, understanding, and development of lifespan literacies in a multicultural and multilingual world.” I am sincerely appreciative of the support of all who participated in a multiplicity of ways in supporting the annual meeting, especially the many researchers and plenary speakers who shared their rigorous research and though-provoking scholarship with us. Included among them were David Yaden, Arlette Willis, Guadalupe Valdés, Bryan Brayboy, Catherine Compton-Lilly, Allison Skerret, Mary McVee, and Marcus Croom. Additional recognition and appreciation must be extended to the members of the special panel convened to accommodate an unavoidable change in the conference program. The panel moderated by Vice President Alfred Tatum provided a needed opportunity to build upon the conference theme and coalesce around the need to “Reimagining LRA in the Spirit of a Transcendent Literacy Approach”, a concept introduced in Arlette Willis’ Oscar Causey Address. Special thanks to Rachel Salas and James Hoffman who were instrumental in organizing the panel, and to Patriann Smith, Marcus Croom, Michiko Hikida, Matthew Deroo, Josh Coleman, Emily Machado, Chad Waldron, Rahat Zaidi, and Arlette Willis who shared their insights and ideas about moving us forward as an organization. I am sincerely appreciative of all who participated in a multiplicity of ways in creating this year’s annual conference. I also want to acknowledge those of you who were unable to attend but who support the work of LRA through your membership, committee involvement, and scholarly work. If you have not yet done so, I ask conference attendee to complete the 2022 Annual Conference survey by December 31, 2022. The survey can be found here.

The coming year offers some exciting plans for extending the conference theme and continuing to address the mission of LRA. These plans include:

• A presentation by Angela Valenzuela who was eagerly looking forward to delivering her keynote address at the conference, but illness prevented her from doing so. Details about the rescheduled presentation will be shared via multiple eblasts and posted on the LRA website.
• Blogs featuring content by the 2022 Integrative Research Review Panel and other conference speakers and attendees.

Like Past-President David Yaden, I believe that we must continue to seek opportunities to participate in structured and sustained dialogue with multiple audiences to inform them through research and other scholarly work about the restrictive practices and policies that impact literacy development. This is a challenge that we are capable of and must continue to meet. The recently announced More than a Conference Initiative is intended to extend the work of standing committees, ICGs, study groups, and award committees. The funding is to be used to implement innovative ways to strengthen relationships, create a culture of intellectual engagement, develop a supportive community that extends beyond the LRA conference, and increase LRA’s visibility and digital footprint. Additional options include collaborations with the National Academy of Education in implementation of their Civic Reasoning and Discourse Initiative and with other professional organizations that are striving to cross the boundaries and borders that negatively impact literacy research, policies, and practices. In the words of Nelson Mandela (2011):

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

In closing, I invite you to use your voice in helping to set the future course for LRA by participating in the LRA elections. Look for candidate statements from individuals selected for the 2023 slate for the Board of Directors and presidential line that will be disseminated in January.

Best Wishes for a Happy and Productive New Year!

Doris Walker-Dalhouse
LRA President 2022-2023
doris.walker-dalhouse@marquette.edu

Dear LRA Family and Friends,

Greetings! I hope you are looking forward as much as I am to LRA’s upcoming 72nd Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. If the weather predictions hold for December 2022, it will be “clear and sunny,” with delightfully cool-ish temperatures in the high 60s during the day, dropping to crisper 50s in the evening—mere summer temps for those of you in the northern climes! Time to break out those chic jackets and sweaters you’ve saved for this occasion.

Our indefatigable Conference Chair, Doris Walker-Dalhouse and her team have organized a stellar line up of conference speakers and research presentations during the week. Headliners will be plenary speakers Bryan Brayboy and Angela Valenzuela, Guadalupe Valdés, the 2022 recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award, and Arlette Willis, the 2021 Oscar S. Causey awardee. And anchoring the conference on Saturday will be the Integrative Research Review Panel, comprised of notable scholars and researchers, including Drs. Catherine Compton-Lilly, Marcus Croom, Allison Skerrett and Mary McVee.

I do have one concern that I am hoping we can discuss as a professional literacy organization in December and that is the overreach of legislative policies and laws passed in the name of the science of reading which have directly impacted teacher education programs in at least 30 states. For example, here in Arizona, there is a new dyslexia screening test for kindergarten and first grade mandated by fall 2022, two new and required university courses covering the identification of dyslexia and the five “pillars” of reading (à la NCLB) to be in place by spring of 2023, and a new reading endorsement (with a phonics focus) and high stakes assessment which must be completed within three years of initial certification, otherwise the credential is revoked.

This strident conservatism sweeping educational practice, also manifested in the bans of discussions of CRT, gender identity, ethnic and racial issues, and the history of slavery (perniciously euphemized in some states as “involuntary relocation”) has had an insidious and demonstrable effect on what teachers and students can discuss—and read—in our nation’s classrooms. All the more disheartening is the squelching or outright ignoring of the research represented by LRA scholars and researchers (e.g., see https://literacyresearchassociation.org/research-reports-policy-briefs-and-press-releases/) as well as the critiques of the science of reading research by most of the 50+ articles in the two Special Issues of the Reading Research Quarterly (see https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rrq.402 for an example).

Indeed, what is represented as research-based practice by science of reading advocates is directly opposed to what literacy scholars and professionals all over the globe have realized in that “learning is far beyond just a cognitive function, but is deeply embedded in the racial, cultural, historical, socioeconomic, and gendered identities of language and literacy users” (Yaden & Rogers, forthcoming, Literacies and Languages vol., International Encyclopedia of Education, https://www.elsevier.com/books/international-encyclopedia-of-education/tierney/978-0-12-818629-9). Unfortunately, this more sophisticated understanding of literacy development has been subverted, at least in the U.S., by a one-size-fits-all, over-simplified, retrograde definition of literacy—the predictable outcome of adopting “a simple view of reading.”

The rhetoric of the reading wars has now become more than just a sterile, academic debate, but is encoded in the very laws, house and senate bills, and legislative policies of the majority of the states, policies which are, in turn, being foisted upon school districts and university teacher training programs where nearly all of us work. Thus, we are required to spend time in questionable course development since legislators, public officials, and journalists have become the self-appointed the literacy experts, attempting to determine both university curriculum in literacy and even what topics literacy researchers can address in classroom settings.

It is my belief that LRA must become a leader in turning this restrictive tide and tunnel vision related to literacy development. Our collaboration with the National Academy of Education in their Civic Reasoning and Discourse initiative is certainly one way, understanding that “our polarized, racialized, and politicized climates highlight the importance of equipping young people with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they need to understand complex social issues, respect multiple points of view, and dialogue across differences” (National Academy of Education, https://naeducation.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/NAEd-Educating-for-Civic-Reasoning-and-Discourse-Exec-Summary.pdf).

But there must be other ways as well. As a long-time NRC/LRA member (40 years), the old message of “if we do the research, they will come,” to paraphrase a movie catch phrase (cf. Field of Dreams), is simply not being heard, or worse, being ignored as irrelevant. In addition to the good research which we must continue to do and promote through our journal and book publications, what other tools does LRA have which can be employed to rewrite this pervasive conservative narrative? Increased social media presence? Partnerships with other literacy and educational organizations? Webinars, workshops, seminars, or other public-facing intellectual work which highlight key research findings to a much broader audience? Through what types of Structured or Sustained Dialogue can we engage with parents, school officials and legislators to successfully traverse the liminal binaries which deter productive conversation?

There is no easy road to follow here—it will be a steep climb. But I believe LRA is up to the challenge. Our solutions will be collective; I look forward to the dialogue with you.

With great respect and appreciation,
David

David Yaden
LRA President 2021-2022
dyadenjr@mail.arizona.edu

President’s Message

Greetings LRA Family and Friends,

I hope this summer has provided some respite from various cares and renewed your spirit!

Thanks to LRA’s 72nd Conference Chair and President-Elect, Doris Walker-Dalhouse, and her planning team for their work in organizing a much-anticipated meeting in Phoenix, Arizona at the Arizona Grand Resort and Spa from November 29 – December 3, 2022. For Conference 2022, LRA welcomes plenary speakers Brian Brayboy from Arizona State University, Angela Valenzuela of the University of Texas at Austin, and Guadalupe Valdés, Stanford University and the 2022 recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award. All of these scholars are National Academy of Education members whose research and writing have been foundational in establishing much of the current thinking regarding approaches to social justice, racial equity and the deep benefits of multilingualism and diversity in today’s schools and society.

I want to follow up a bit more on the decision to have only an in-person conference this year, rather than a hybrid one. It is important to know that the choice of venue for the annual meeting involves a blend of intellectual, ethical and business dimensions. First, the business aspect. Choosing a conference location is a long, intensive process (sites are normally chosen 3-years in advance), involving multiple LRA and management company personnel in the decision. The process involves the initial preparation of an RFP that is then sent to dozens of hotel venues, outlining LRA’s goals and logistical needs for the annual meeting, after which begins the careful vetting of numerous hotel and vendor proposals. After a short list of possible sites is identified, each one is visited by a core group of LRA officers and ASG staff to get a clear visual picture of the venue itself and the surrounding area. All along the way, the team is negotiating affordable pricing for accommodations, adequate meeting space, technical support, reasonable catering costs, internet services, and assessing the transportation networks adjacent to hotel properties, just to name a few of areas of decision-making. None of these costs, with the exception of the room rates, are fixed necessarily, so there is an ongoing and lively exchange of information and negotiation between LRA and venue officials nearly up to the dates of the conference itself. As your President, I have come to greatly appreciate the careful planning, judgment, and negotiating skill that is evident on LRA’s behalf in this sophisticated process.

Second, on the ethical side, LRA has, indeed, in the past made decisions not to go to states where there have been restrictions, for example, on affirmative action or gender-neutral bathrooms. However, during the last 3 years, in particular, if the advent and ongoing impact of the pandemic weren’t enough disruption, now numerous states are aggressively suppressing voting rights, criminalizing discussions of CRT in classrooms, and imposing narrow approaches to literacy instruction on teacher education programs across the country. Further, with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and real threats emerging to women’s and families’ health in this post-Roe environment as well as an anti-LGBTQIA2S+ sentiment, the business of choosing a conference site has become dramatically more complicated as most of the states in the South and Southwest where LRA has typically held conferences now have state policies with which LRA does not fundamentally agree. Thus, the current venue selection process involves many more issues to juggle than in the past.

Finally, drilling down into the costs and provision of various types of conference hybridity to include the range and type of presentations which is typical of LRA has proven to be a thorny problem. While we are all used to robust internet services at our universities to meet with and collaborate with our colleagues worldwide, to conduct professional development and other business, I was not aware of the costs of providing this service until I asked our chief information officer. At the University of Arizona, the base cost to maintain such services for faculty, staff and students is between one-half and three-quarters of a million dollars. And this cost is actually discounted for research and industry institutions as they use Internet 2, a specialized system of digital resources and networks designed exclusively for supporting the work of research.

However, when LRA meets at a hotel venue, the internet providers are commercial, with commercial rates, considerably higher than the Internet 2 cost. Our planning team has compared the costs for various hybrid formats against what other organizations have paid which range easily from $40,000 to well over $100,000 depending upon the type of virtual service provided; and this cost is above and beyond what is paid for digital and technical support of the in-person conference which effectively doubles the cost of conducting the annual meeting. Another factor in this equation is LRA’s relatively small size, fluctuating between 1,200-1,500 members over the past few years. To put it simply, organizations with a membership of 25,000 like AERA and NCTE, and ILA with its 300,000 members worldwide in 128 countries, have more budget to consider a broader scope of digital offerings to their members.

In order to get a clearer picture of the changing political and financial landscapes which LRA’s annual meetings are confronting, I appointed a special Conference Venue Committee this year, chaired by former LRA President, Janice Almasi, to do a deep dive into ways that the annual conference can be more affordable, accessible, and aligned with LRA’s values and mission. This committee will present their final report in December at the 2022 Annual Meeting.

I would like to mention one more thing, that is, the importance of supporting the e-editors in their efforts to increase the communication capabilities of the new, custom-built website.

While the old listserv is no longer available, there are ample ways that communication among LRA members can take place. For example, on the BLOG tab, the e-editors have created a form https://literacyresearchassociation.org/news/submit-content/ where LRA members, Standing and Award Committees, our journal editorial teams, and ICGs can share information related to news, committee updates, and pertinent publication information.

LRA is fortunate to have such dedicated members as those of the e-editor team, members of the Technology and Digital Communications Committee, and Headquarters staff who have arduously worked to ameliorate various glitches, create new functionalities, and provide affordances to LRA members to communicate with colleagues and share information relevant to the larger membership. Please take the initiative to share information through the link above or contact the e-editors directly at write@literacyresearchassociation.org.

In closing, these past three years have had dramatic, and sometimes tragic consequences for both our personal and professional lives. Nonetheless, LRA’s leadership and its members are continually striving to create an intellectual and professional environment where literacy scholars from all reaches of the planet feel “at home,” as it were, in that their personal and professional interests, values and research are appreciated and valued. The more we communicate with one another, the better we prosper and grow.

With great respect and appreciation,
David

David Yaden
LRA President 2021-2022
dyadenjr@email.arizona.edu