For the past 20 years, Dr. Jack Cassidy and his collaborators have surveyed leaders in the field about the issues in literacy that are receiving attention and those that are no longer in the limelight and presented the findings in the annual "What's Hot, What's Not" column. This tradition has continued into 2017 as 25 literacy leaders…

Researchers utilized a historical context of the "What's Hot, What's Not" expert surveys over the last 20 years to examine literacy priorities and possible impacts. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were recently recognized as the hottest topic in the field of literacy education. Perhaps one of the unintended consequences of this…

This large-scale national survey of specialized literacy professionals was designed to answer questions about responsibilities, including leadership, and preparation for these roles. Questionnaires, completed by over 2,500 respondents, indicated that respondents had multiple responsibilities that included both instruction of struggling readers and…

Presents results from a survey in the United States that provides some indication of how reading specialists fulfill their roles and how they offer students effective literacy instruction. Notes that the goal was to investigate what reading specialists do so that educators could better understand how they provide services to students and teachers.…

Discribes ways the reading specialist can help content area teachers improve reading skills. (RB)

Describes International Reading Association members' activities, on behalf of reading professionals, involving national accreditation, state program approval, state licensure, and national certification. (RS)

Presents an annotated checklist that reading specialists can distribute to all teachers describing services that the reading specialist can perform. (MKM)

Finds that teachers who received the services of a reading field agent--a specialist hired specifically to assist classroom teachers in utilizing their reading resources to the fullest--showed some specific gains in their knowledge of appropriate teaching strategies. (GW)