Literacy for All

“One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.” Malala Yousafzai's now-famous words inspired and motivated us as new editors as we planned new journal departments and invited editorial review board members. The power of one teacher to make a difference in the life of a child is transformative, inspirational; it gives us hope for a better future for all children in the world. With our new editorship, we seek to focus on the literacy needs of all children across the globe. Literacy gives each and every child the chance for success, and The Reading Teacher offers examples of teachers who truly make that difference. Over the last decade, school demographics have shifted; many countries have been in turmoil because of war, and poverty continues to be one of the greatest challenges to students becoming literate. In addition to these challenges, teachers also struggle with how to meet the literacy needs of students who come from diverse socioeconomic, linguistic, cultural, and racial backgrounds while providing the highest quality literacy instruction. As we planned the departments for our incoming editorship, we continually returned to this question: How can educators continue to transform teaching to meet the needs and interests of today's children through a broader, more comprehensive view of literacy? This question is important to us as literacy researchers, as former public school teachers, and as current parents of school-age children. The Reading Teacher has a rich legacy as a result of the accomplishments of the previous editors, the dedication of past editorial reviewers, and the passionate teachers and researchers who publish their work with the journal. We aim to maintain the same high quality for which the journal is known worldwide. To complement ILA's dedication to making literacy a right for all children, we chose the theme literacy for all for Volume 70. In each issue, we aim to offer a global view of literacy. As you read about the new departments, you may notice that focus as well as a continued emphasis on the classroom teacher and exemplary research-based teaching practices. We are particularly excited about this first issue of the journal, and we hope you will enjoy it as much as we do. With that, we provide you a summary of the contents. Our world is much more digitally connected than it was a decade ago, and that opens up the possibilities for expanding literacy. It also gives us a greater responsibility for combating illiteracy; we have the opportunity to broaden the field to be inclusive in ways that we may not have been in the past. To begin this month's journal, Lucy Calkins and Mary Ehrenworth of Teachers College, Columbia University, approach the literacy for all theme by focusing on leadership decisions in schools and districts that can raise the level of writing. We learn from their article new ways of thinking about writing for all children. We think you will enjoy this article and find ways to implement its recommendations in your schools. There are two departments published in this issue: Digital Literacy and Global Literacy. In the Digital Literacy article, Jennifer Rowsell of Brock University, Canada, takes readers on a digital literacy road trip as she searches the world for wisdom and insight from experts across the globe. The Global Literacy department is authored by Bernadette Dwyer of St. Patrick's College, Dublin City University, Ireland, who details excellent ways to build global literacy through technology. Both authors build on a global theme that helps us all remember that literacy is an important topic worldwide. In the seven feature articles in this issue, we intentionally selected a variety of topics to represent literacy for all. Whether in the field of science or in building academic language in an early childhood classroom, literacy is important in all content areas, for all ages, and for all types of students. Today's teachers are knowledgeable about a variety of topics and search for articles that meet their needs for teaching their diverse student body. This month's feature articles will prepare you for thinking about summer reading programs and ways to facilitate academic language in the early childhood classroom. You will also read about exploring literature circles through informational texts and ways to teach first graders to comprehend complex texts through read-alouds. We hope reading these articles will inspire you over the summer months, just as they invigorated us about teaching and learning. In this issue, you will also find a variety of Teaching Tips that focus on literacy for all. These teaching tips offer educators ideas from using technology to support professional learning communities to using picture books to start conversations about autism. Last but just as important, Voices From the Classroom features the voices of classroom teachers speaking about their practical and successful experiences from the field. We think you will enjoy reading “WrestleMania Meets Reading Mania” by Barclay Marcell. In each journal issue, we will continue to focus on articles that hold relevance to teaching and classrooms throughout the world. Most importantly, we will always remember Malala's words: “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.” Articles in this issue not only offer us hope but also explain research-based strategies for teaching all children well. We hope you will enjoy the issue as much as we do!

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