Professor appointed to ILA's research panel; literacy journal

Donna Alvermann, the Omer Clyde and Elizabeth Parr Aderhold Professor in Education and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education, has been appointed to the International Literacy Association's (ILA) Literacy Research Panel (LRP) for a three-year term.

She will also start her two-year appointment as the "Policy and Practice: Remix" columnist for the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.

In 2012, ILA—formerly the International Reading Association—formed the Literary Research Panel to respond to critical literacy issues facing policymakers, school administrators, teachers, parents and the general public.

As an LRP member, Alvermann will be responsible for answering any questions the public may have in her area of expertise. She will also write one or more entries for ILA's comprehensive blog about equity issues, gendered literacy instruction and its consequences on adolescents' literate identities.

"This is important in an era where much confusion exists about effective literacy instruction, especially when people who do not have appropriate expertise attempt to put forward ideological preferences unsupported by evidence," said Alvermann.

The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, published by ILA, is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers classroom-tested ideas grounded in research and theory.

As the journal's "Policy and Practice" columnist, Alvermann will analyze and write about current news events, such as the passage and implications of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was recently signed into law, replacing the No Child Left Behind Act.

"My role is to be controversial, but only insofar as research supports my position," said Alvermann.

Alvermann's research interests include adolescents' digital literacies, written communication, youth media literacies and the democratization of online text production. She is the author of several books on adolescents and literacies in the digital world and has received numerous awards, including the Computers in Reading Research Award from ILA and the Causey Award for Outstanding Contributions to Reading Research from the Literary Research Association.