Dr. Edwards has held numerous leadership positions that have shaped the direction of literacy research and practice globally. She served as Chair of the American Educational Research Association’s Family, School, Community Partnerships Special Interest Group and was elected to the AERA SIG Executive Committee as Member-at-Large from 2022 to 2025. Her leadership within professional organizations is historic and far-reaching. She served on the Board of Directors of the International Literacy Association (formerly the International Reading Association) from 1998 to 2001, was the first African American President of the Literacy Research Association from 2006 to 2007, and later served as President of the International Literacy Association from 2010 to 2011. In recognition of her long-standing leadership and influence, she was named Co-Chair of the International Literacy Association’s historic 70th Anniversary in 2025.

 

A prolific and highly respected scholar, Dr. Edwards has published extensively in top-tier, peer-reviewed journals and authored some of the field’s most influential family literacy programs and books. Her early work resulted in two nationally acclaimed programs that helped redefine how educators understand and support family literacy: Parents as Partners in Reading: A Family Literacy Training Program (1990, 1993) and Talking Your Way to Literacy: A Program to Help Nonreading Parents Prepare Their Children for Reading (1990). These programs challenged deficit narratives about families and demonstrated how parents, regardless of their own literacy histories, can meaningfully support their children’s learning.

 

Her books further reflect her commitment to listening to families and advancing socially just literacy practices. She is the coauthor of A Path to Follow: Learning to Listen to Parents, Bridging Literacy and Equity: The Essential Guide to Social Equity Teaching (2012), and Change Is Gonna Come: Transforming Literacy for African American Students (2010), the latter of which received the 2011 Literacy Research Association Edward B. Fry Book Award. Her sole-authored works—including Children’s Literacy Development: Making It Happen Through School, Family, and Community Involvement (2004), Tapping the Potential of Parents: A Strategic Guide to Boosting Student Achievement Through Family Involvement (2009), and New Ways to Engage Parents: Strategies and Tools for Teachers and Leaders (2016)—have become essential resources for teachers, administrators, and teacher educators. New Ways to Engage Parents earned the 2017 Delta Kappa Gamma Educators Book Award.

 

Dr. Edwards has continued to shape contemporary conversations through major academic publishers. Her 2019 Teachers College Press book, Partnering with Families for Student Success: 24 Scenarios for Problem Solving with Parents, recommended for the 2021 AACTE Outstanding Book Award, provides practical, equity-centered guidance for educators working with linguistically and culturally diverse families. Her 2023 Harvard Education Press book, Teaching with Literacy Programs: Equitable Instruction for All, critically examines core literacy programs as limited yet potentially useful tools when employed thoughtfully and responsively; it was honored with the 2025 AACTE Gloria Ladson-Billings Outstanding Book Award. In 2025, she coedited the Handbook of Literacy in Families and Communities (Edward Elgar) with Catherine Compton-Lilly and Guofang Li, further cementing her role as a leading voice in family and community literacy research. She is also the lead author of a forthcoming Harvard Education Press volume, Exploring Parent-Child Book Reading Across Diverse Families, coauthored with Jungmin Kwon and Lori Bruner.

 

Beyond scholarship, Dr. Edwards has made sustained contributions to policy, service, and mentorship. Since 2016, she has served as a member of the Michigan Department of Education’s Family Engagement Stakeholders’ Taskforce and was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan PreK–12 Literacy Commission (2020–2024). Her service has been recognized with numerous prestigious honors, including the Literacy Research Association’s Albert J. Kingston Service Award (2012), the International Literacy Association’s Jerry Johns Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading Award (2014), and the Michigan Reading Association’s Outstanding Teacher Educator Award (2015). She was named the Jeanne S. Chall Visiting Researcher at Harvard Graduate School of Education for 2017–2018 and received the AERA Scholars of Color Distinguished Career Contribution Award (senior level) in 2019.

 

In 2020, Dr. Edwards received the Oscar S. Causey Award from the Literacy Research Association for outstanding contributions to reading research, becoming the first African American in the organization’s history to receive this honor—mirroring her earlier distinction as LRA’s first African American president. In 2022, she was selected as a member of The HistoryMakers, ensuring that her life story and scholarly legacy are preserved in the Library of Congress as part of the national African American historical record. In 2024, she was elected an AERA Fellow and named the recipient of the International Literacy Association’s William S. Gray Citation of Merit.

 

In 2026, Dr. Edwards was elected to the National Academy of Education, one of the highest honors in the field, recognizing the enduring significance of her scholarly and leadership contributions. That same year, she was selected as a Speaker for the TEDxMSU 2026 Sonder Conference, providing a powerful public platform to share her work and extend conversations about literacy, equity, and family engagement beyond the academy. Together, these honors reflect a career defined by intellectual rigor, visionary leadership, and an unwavering commitment to educational justice.

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