Voice of Literacy

Purpose Statement <br>

The Voice of Literacy seeks to open doors to literacy research by making it available in ways that spark ideas, hope, and dialogue. <br>

Reading and writing are complex, and researchers are continually discovering new things about them. However, the people to whom those findings matter don’t often have access to the research journals where those findings are published. This includes teachers, administrators, parents, and policymakers. Further, these findings aren’t usually shared on the local news or in other popular media outlets as often as findings in medicine or natural sciences might be. <br>

We believe that the findings of literacy research need to be shared widely and openly, especially with those who teach (in classrooms, homes, and other contexts), administrate, or make policy that impacts the literacy lives of others. <br>

As it turns out, researchers know a lot about the teaching and learning of literacy. However, without a wide, public sharing of their research findings, it’s hard to know what to believe or what actions to take to best support the literacy learning of the readers and writers in your care. Our goal is to share literacy research findings so you can make informed decisions about literacy teaching, learning, and policy. <br>

In the United States there are there are hundreds of thousands of teachers, tens of thousands of school administrators, and millions of parents and school-aged readers and writers. The Voice of Literacy podcast seeks to keep teachers, parents, administrators, policymakers, and journalists informed about the latest research being done in literacy. In collaboration with the editors the research journal Research in the Teaching of English (RTE), Dr. Michiko Hikida, associate professor of elementary literacy at Ohio State University, asks authors of research reports published in RTE to explain the following: <br>

- How they got interested in their topic. <br>

- How their research findings inform teachers. <br>

- How their research findings inform parents. <br>

- How their research findings inform principals and other administrators. <br>

- How their research findings inform policymakers. <br>

- What they hope people take from their research. <br>

Stay current with literacy research by subscribing to Voice of Literacy on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. We invite you to start dialogues with others by sharing the podcast. Follow Research in the Teaching of English on YouTube. <br>

New episodes are posted on the 1st and 3rd Mondays from September to April. <br>

We will begin posting new episodes in the Fall of 2023. In the meantime, we invite you to listen to our back catalogue. <br>

Contact information: <br>

Dr. Michiko Hikida <br>

Associate Professor, Elementary Literacy Education <br>

email: [email protected] <br>

RTE email: [email protected] <br>

With gratitude to Dr. Betsy Baker who founded this podcast. <br>

Updated April 2023<br>