Looking Back, Moving Forward: 70 Years of Connecting Classroom Practice and Literacy Research

The future of literacy education is informed by the paths that brought us here. In this session, Patricia Edwards, past president of the International Reading Association (IRA), and Dana Robertson, current president of the International Literacy Association (ILA), reflect on key moments that shaped the field, as well as the teachers, researchers, and literacy leaders who have carried that work forward. Explore how this global community of literacy professionals has connected research and classroom practice for seven decades, impacting five generations of learners and laying the foundation for what comes next.