[Reading-hall-of-fame] Re: Jack Cassidy's Report

[richardallington at aol.com]

 The real question about IRA has to do with membership. As I understand it membership is down about 50% since my presidency (from 90,000 to 60,000). As I departed the presidency IRA was planning for 100,000 members and taking the annual meeting only cities where conferences of 35,000+ could be accommodated (thus the focus on Orlando and Chicago recently). But conference attendance is also down about as much as membership (from over 25,000 in my year as president to 12,500 last year). I'm not sure how things turned around so quickly but IRA has adequate funds in surplus to survive for awhile (praise the Lord). Still the question that keeps me awake is what has driven IRA membership and conference attendance to the pits? Is it that IRA has finally fell victim to the special education complex? That struggling readers are no longer seen as a problem for reading specialists to work with but instead are now seen as LD and largely unremediable? IRA lost its leadership in publishing on struggling readers to LDA and CEC in the 1980s and now reading specialists are typically my age and retiring from teaching. 

 

Dick Allington
University of Tennessee
A209 Bailey Education Complex

 


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