2022 LLA Election Results - National Council of Teachers of English

LLA Election Results

2022

LLA President-Elect

Associate professor of language and literacy education, University of South Carolina; co-director, Center of Bilingualism Matters@UofSC; board member, Bilingualism Matters International Network; state ambassador, USBBY; board member, East Point Academy, Columbia, SC; founder & president, China-TAWL. Formerly: board member of LLA, 2017–2020; board member of East Point Academy Chinese Mandarin Immersion School, SC, 2019–2022; advisory board member, Carver-Lyon Elementary School Immersion Program, 2017–2020; editorial board member, Young Palmetto Books, SC, 2017–2018; editorial assistant, Talking Points, 2010–2013. Areas of expertise: reading comprehension, reading assessment, miscue analysis, eye movement miscue analysis, TESOL, and biliteracies. Memberships: LLA, NCTE, CELT, EMMA, LRA, NABE, AERA, USBBY. Awards: CELT Research Award (2019, 2021); Reading Miscue Research Award (2019, 2020); Early Career Service Award, College of Education, UofSC (2019); Faculty Associate of the Year, Preston Residential College, UofSC (2019). Publications: co-editor, Enhancing Bilingual Education: A Transdisciplinary Lens for Improving Learning in Bilingual Contexts; articles in Talking Points, English Journal, Middle School Journal, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Bilingual Research Journal, Journal of International Students, Multicultural Education, TESOL Journal, Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning. Program contributions: Presentations at LLA, NCTE, EMMA, LRA, AERA, NABE, BMRS, JOLLE, CAERDA, BM@UofSC.

How has LLA/NCTE provided a professional home for you?

LLA/NCTE has been an academic home for me for a decade. My first time attending the Literacy for All institute was at the University of Missouri to celebrate Dorothy Watson’s 80th birthday. I was helping Dr. Carol Gilles hold this event. Being a newbie in the doctoral program, I was bedazzled by the big names that I read in articles and books. Since that time, LLA has been my North Star guiding my literacy education trajectory. I have attended the summer conferences since then. I joined the CELT and the EMMA group meetings as well. I served as the editorial assistant for Talking Points and as a board member in the past.

My research interest is in reading comprehension and assessment, particularly in miscue analysis and EMMA. LLA has been a real family in terms of my scholarly work and even my life. I co-presented at WLU with my mentor and colleagues in the early years, then I shared my work independently. Now I bring my own doctoral students, international visiting scholars, and colleagues to join and present at LLA. I am grateful for the mentorship that I received from LLA, and this academic family is definitely growing.

How does your current work in your career, community, and/or classroom contribute to LLA’s purpose and demonstrate alignment with LLA’s/NCTE’s commitment to equity and justice? How have your personal strengths and experiences contributed to making positive change(s) in the profession?

My research expertise is on reading miscue analysis, EMMA, biliteracies, and TESOL. It aligns with the vision of LLA focusing on whole language as a dynamic philosophy of education. I embed whole language practices in my teaching, research, and service. I also embed social justice, critical literacies, digital and multimodal literacies, and inquiry learning in my teaching of preservice and inservice teachers.

LLA Executive Board Members

 

Educator / 27 years, Columbia, SC, 1st-grade teacher RSD1, cooperating teacher student interns, lead mentor Columbia College (APEC), CEEAAS (Center for Education and Equity for African American Students) Hope Teacher, ECEA/NCTE, PDCRT/NCTE, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Area of Expertise: early childhood education; Culturally Relevant Sustaining Educator. Award(s): 2020 Donald H. Graves Writing Award, Teacher of the Year 2022–23 AJ Lewis Greenview ES; Publications: Journal of Literacy Research, NCTE.org (Blog), Language Arts, 11/21; Contribution(s): Theory in Practice; Black Mother Educators: Advancing Praxis for Access, Equity and Achievement; NCTE presentations; CEEAAS presentations.

How has LLA/NCTE provided a professional home for you?

NCTE/PRCRT/LLA has provided a platform for me as an educator to continue my love for literacy and language within a community of educators. I joined the NCTE family six years ago, and it has extended my opportunities to learn new skills, as well as teach others about classroom research and teaching practices that elevate literacy and learning. I have made new connections with educators who share many of the same experiences.

How does your current work in your career, community, and/or classroom contribute to LLA’s purpose and demonstrate alignment with LLA’s/NCTE’s commitment to equity and justice? How have your personal strengths and experiences contributed to making positive change(s) in the profession?

My knowledge of self is a deep connection to my ancestors. My African American Language (AAL) is the Black American grit between my ancestral motherland and this American land where we currently find ourselves occupying. This self-awareness guides my teaching as I serve a classroom of majority foundational black students. It was through this experience that I vowed to never make my students feel inferior due to their home languages.

What is your rationale for seeking this office? What would you like to accomplish while in office?

I want to be a part of an organization that is dedicated to the plight of communities of color and multilingual/bilingual communities. These communities are consistently marginalized because of socioeconomic status. LLA has allowed educators like me to collaborate with likeminded educators. I make a choice every day to do the work, to dismantle the system of injustice, and replace it with a system of justice and equity for all humankind.

Associate professor of elementary literacy, Illinois State University. Formerly: K–6 classroom teacher, reading specialist, enrichment teacher for eight years; member, LLA Language & Literacies Advocacy Day; member, LRA Ethnicity, Race, & Multilingualism Committee; Area(s) of expertise: culturally sustaining pedagogies, teacher agency, narrow definitions of literacy, anti-racist teacher education, specifically in writing. Award(s) & recognition(s): ISU University Teaching Award, ATE Clinical Fellows of Clinical Practice, ATE Emerging Scholars Program. Publications: Written Communication, Language Arts (forthcoming), Reading Teacher, JOLLE, Multicultural Education, Language Arts Journal of Michigan, LRA Yearbook. Presentations: NCTE, LLA (cancelled), LRA, AERA, ATE.

How has LLA/NCTE provided a professional home for you?

Since graduate school, I have seen NCTE as my professional home; however as I was getting acclimated into academia and became an assistant professor, I had more opportunities for involvement in LRA. I will continue to be active in researching/writing with the LRA Teacher Education Research Study Group, but I would like to take on more leadership roles in NCTE/LLA. I served on the LLA Advocacy Day Committee and as a proposal reviewer for NCTE/LLA conferences.

How does your current work in your career, community, and/or classroom contribute to LLA’s purpose and demonstrate alignment with LLA’s/NCTE’s commitment to equity and justice? How have your personal strengths and experiences contributed to making positive change(s) in the profession?

My work in my research, teaching, and community aligns with NCTE/LLA’s commitment to equity and social justice. My practice is centered on constructivist principles and deeply embeds critical literacies and anti-racist perspectives. I lead a Civic Engagement Cohort that centers issues of social justice, equity, and diversity. My strengths and experiences extend beyond the classroom walls, both in my advocacy work in my local community and in my critical orientations and perspectives in journal publications.

What is your rationale for seeking this office? What would you like to accomplish while in office?

My rationale for seeking this office is to not only be a member of the organization, but to contribute in leadership. I have benefitted from NCTE/LLA’s leadership and guidance through the annual conferences, statements, and journals. Additionally, as a person of color, I would like to use my voice and perspective to not only be a recipient, but to be an active contributor and advocate to the larger organization and mission for equity, justice, and diversity.