2020 News Stories

Literacy Studies faculty and students to present research, receive awards at Literacy Research Association Annual Conference

Literacy Research Association Logo

TAMPA, Fla. (Dec. 1, 2020) — Students, faculty members and alumni from USF’s Literacy Studies Program will present their research this week at the Literacy Research Association’s (LRA) 70th Annual Conference.

The LRA is a community of scholars dedicated to promoting research that enriches the knowledge, understanding, and development of lifespan literacies in a multicultural and multilingual world. Held virtually this year, the LRA Annual Conference brings together individuals who share an interest in advancing literacy theory, research, and practice to engage in research and dialogue pertaining to literacy and related topics.

Awards Received by USF Faculty, Students, and Alumni

Area 4 Chair Award
A Troublesome Reality in Literacy Research about Climate Change
Recipients: Alexandra Panos, PhD (University of South Florida); James Damico (Indiana University); Katharine Hull (University of South Florida)

Area 9 Chair Award
We are in a book! In Defense of Books, Children, and Reading
Recipients: Jenifer Jasinski Schneider, PhD; Lindsay Persohn, PhD; Aimee Frier, PhD; Stephanie Branson; Sarah Pennington, PhD; Julia Hagge, PhD; Rebecca Powell, PhD

Leadership Position Appointments

Patriann Smith, PhD, an assistant professor in USF’s Literacy Studies Program, was elected to the Literacy Research Association’s (LRA) Board of Directors. Each LRA board member serves for a three-year term.

USF Presentations at the LRA Annual Conference

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Study Groups

11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Session: Publicly Engaged Literacy Research and Its IMPACT
Participant: Alexandra Panos, PhD

Wednesday, December 2

1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Paper Session
Session: Area 7. Centering critical perspectives: Moving outside of achievement-driven narratives of literacy
Presentation: Rural Students and Educational Gaps: Achievement, Access, and Opportunity
Participant: Katharine Hull

1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Paper Session
Session: Area 9. Examining and responding to representations of race, immigration, and religion in literature and curricula
Presentation: Religious Multicultural Literature for Early Childhood Classrooms
Participants: AnnMarie Alberton Gunn, PhD; Susan V. Bennett, PhD; Kaya van Beynen

1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. – Alternative Format Session
Session: Area 14. Exploring the Past, Present, and Future Together: Engaging the Future of LRA through Historical Literacy Research
Discussant: James R. King, EdD

2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Paper Session
Session: Area 3. Assessments: What Is Uncovered and Discovered
Presentation: Development, Validation, and Scale-Up of a State Kindergarten Entry Assessment and Progress Monitoring System for Language & Literacy Skills
Participant: Jason Anthony, PhD (USF Rightpath Research and Innovation Center, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences)

2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Paper Session
Session: Area 1. Centering Student Voices and Experiences in Preservice Teacher Education
Presentation: Preservice Teachers Enacting Critical Literacy in the Elementary Classroom
Participant: Vanessa Marasco, PhD (USF Elementary Education Program)

2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Paper Session
Session: Area 4. The Intersections of Science and Literacy
Presentation: Area Chair Award - A Troublesome Reality in Literacy Research about Climate Change
Participants: Alexandra Panos, PhD; James Damico (Indiana University); Katharine Hull

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Paper Session
Session: Area 9. Experiencing images in space and time
Presentation: Curating Research for Public Engagement: An Exemplar Study of Wonderland Illustrations
Participant: Lindsay Persohn, PhD

3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – Symposium
Session: Area 8: Disrupting a Standard Language Ideology: Exploring Tensions in Teachers’ Evolving Metalinguistic & Raciolinguistic Awareness
Presentation: Nuances in Teacher Enactment of a Transraciolinguistic Approach
Participant: Patriann Smith, PhD

Thursday, December 3

1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. – Symposium
Session: Area 11: Formative design: A methodological approach to understanding ‘what could be’ in developing literacy PCK with pre-service teachers
Chair: Kristin Valle
Presentation: Collaborative peer placements during a critical field experience
Participant: Stephanie Branson

2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. – Roundtable Session
Session: Area 7: Empathy and narratives: Varied perspectives on collaboration and critical literacy
Presentation: Middle School Students’ Use of Conversational Personal Narrative in Creative Collaborations
Participant: Gretchen Dodson

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Alternative Format Session
Session: Area 1: Fostering Preservice Teachers Critical Literacies through Transdisciplinary Methods Instruction for Teaching about the Climate Crisis
Presentation: Transdisciplinary Stories-to-Live-by: Climate Justice Literacy in Teacher Education
Participants: Alexandra Panos, PhD; Katharine Hull

3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Paper Session
Session: Area 8: Languaging Across Contexts: Developing Literacy for Multilingual Students
Presentation: Ideological Tensions across Englishes:  Implications for Literacy Education
Participant: Patriann Smith, PhD 

3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – Symposium
Session: Area 11: Let us all be from somewhere, let us tell each other everything we can: Spatial positionalities in literacy research
Presentation: Spatial positionalities: The wheres we bring with us and the wheres that make us
Discussant/Participant: Alexandra Panos, PhD

4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Paper Session
Session: Area 11: New Theoretical Directions in Literacy Research
Presentation: Forging new links: Routes, histories, and maps in literacy research and engagement
Participant: Alexandra Panos, PhD

Friday, December 4

2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Roundtable Session
Session: Multi Area: The Impact of Literacy Research
Presentation: Updating Historical Methods in Literacy Research
Participant: James R. King, EdD

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. - Alternative Format Session
Session: Area 9: Area Chair Award - We are in a book! In Defense of Books, Children, and Reading

Recipients:

  • Maybe Something Beautiful—How Art, Gardens, and Literature Transformed a Neighborhood
    Jenifer Jasinski Schneider, PhD
  • Social Justice, The Art of Illustration, and Children’s Literature: Simple Ways to Start Complex Conversations
    Lindsay Persohn, PhD; Rebecca Powell, PhD
  • “Can I read that book in elementary school? Preservice Teachers Responses to Difficult Topics through Digital Tools
    Aimee Frier, PhD; Stephanie Branson

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Symposium
Session: Area 3: “We Sustain What We Love”: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy at Work in Literacy Teacher Education Coursework
Presentation: “You Could Hear a Pin Drop”: Culturally Sustaining Theory to Practice
Participants: Susan V. Bennett, PhD; AnnMarie Alberton Gunn, PhD

Saturday, December 5

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Special Event Series of Collaborative Discussions
Presentation: Advancing Anti-Racism in Literacy Research (session invited by LRA Board)
Participant: Patriann Smith, PhD

11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Collaborate for Impact Discussions
Presentation: Advancing Anti-Racism in Literacy Research (session invited by LRA Board)
Participant: Patriann Smith, PhD

Poster Sessions

Session: Area 3: Maternal Theory and the Shaping of Literacy Assessment and Education: Anger in the Interstices
Participant: Jenifer Jasinski Schneider, PhD