StandardsWork

It’s here! 🎉 Our conversation with Sue Pimentel + Meredith Liben on Placing Text at the Center is back. It's shorter, cleaner, and full of timeless insights for your ELA block. Listen in: https://lnkd.in/eGcDzkky

This essay is my entry in The Thomas B. Fordham Institute's annual “Wonk-a-Thon,” which this year asks what must happen next for the “science of reading” movement to fulfill its promise. I was delighted to collaborate with my friend Kristen McQuillan, Ed.D., Chief Program Officer at StandardsWork--a gifted literacy coach and former classroom teacher whose expertise and insight into the daily realities of reading instruction grounded this piece in both policy sense and practical wisdom. Together, we argue that while new laws mandating evidence-based reading instruction mark real progress, statutes alone can’t deliver literacy gains. Success depends on what happens in classrooms—on changing the culture and craft of teaching itself. "The risk is that the science of reading becomes another compliance exercise—same teachers, same lessons, new labels....The goal is not simply to pass new laws—it’s to make those laws obsolete. We will know we’ve arrived when evidence-based literacy is no longer an education policy agenda but simply what good teaching looks like." https://lnkd.in/e-P4daUr

Our #HistoryMatters series is now streaming on the #KnowledgeMatters Podcast! 🎙️ Episodes 1–3 uncover how teaching rich history content, even in early grades, can spark curiosity, build literacy, and prepare students for civic life. Have you tuned in yet? What’s your favorite insight? 🔗 Listen here: https://apple.co/46UlxD4 #KnowledgeMatters #HistoryMatters

Primary sources can be powerful, but students first need the knowledge to interpret them. History learning must begin with what happened before asking why it mattered. Read more: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gAqbrQNt #KnowledgeMatters #HistoryMatters #CurriculumMatters

In this recent EdWeek opinion piece, retired teacher Dana Palubiak shared a defense of Lucy Calkins, reflecting on how Units of Study sparked student engagement and gave her “a way in” to literacy instruction. 📖 Read it here: https://lnkd.in/givYrNtF But what’s missing from this narrative, and what students most urgently need, is a firm commitment to evidence-based, scientifically grounded reading instruction. That’s where Kristen McQuillan, Ed.D., offers a vital counterpoint in her article for The 74: 📌 “Balanced literacy rehab” isn’t just catchy, it’s a critical framework for real, lasting instructional change. 📌 Shifting to the Science of Reading takes more than new curriculum materials, it demands coaching, retraining, and the unlearning of outdated practices. 📌 McQuillan makes it clear: the biggest barrier isn’t standards or policy, it’s the deeply ingrained beliefs about how kids learn to read. Read her powerful article here: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gv7Af9Wp Engagement is important, but it must be paired with instruction that works for all learners. #ScienceOfReading #BalancedLiteracy #ReadingReform #Education #LiteracyEquity #Calkins #EvidenceBasedInstruction #The74

Shifting to the Science of Reading requires more than just new materials — it takes unlearning, retraining, and sometimes, a little “balanced literacy rehab.” In her powerful new piece for The 74, our Chief Program Officer Kristen McQuillan, Ed.D. explores what it truly takes for educators and systems to adopt evidence-based reading practices — and why we must invest in deep professional learning to get there. 📖 “The biggest challenge in changing reading instruction isn’t the standards, policies, or even the curriculum. It’s what’s in teachers’ heads.” Read the full article here: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gv7Af9Wp #ScienceOfReading #LiteracyLeadership

I was pleased to participate last Friday in an Education Week webinar on the Future of the Science of Reading (🔗 https://edw.link/u55), in part because my preparation caused me to reflect on a matter that needs discussing: the amount of curriculum “supplementation” happening, and the threat that it poses to the literacy curriculum cause. This month, two organizations published compelling research that draws attention to this problem (my word, not theirs). RAND analyzed teacher surveys on their use of instructional materials and found that “on average, teachers reported regularly using two curriculum materials and five supplemental materials.” Meanwhile, the The Center for Education Market Dynamics (CEMD) reported that nearly half of districts in their dataset (which focuses on districts with the highest percentage of underserved students) are using more than one ELA program. 🔗 RAND: https://lnkd.in/eVXQxrG8 🔗 CEMD: https://lnkd.in/er56bU7r Reporting on the RAND results, Sarah Schwartz provides a list of explanations—such as teachers worrying their HQIM is too rigorous, or that it doesn’t contain the scaffolds needed for the diverse set of learners in their classroom—none of which I doubt (🔗 https://lnkd.in/e36y6hsm). I also know, from visiting almost 50 school districts we’ve celebrated as part of the Knowledge Matters Campaign School Tour, that answers to the struggles teachers face CAN be found in a strong curriculum, if district leadership supports learning and understanding the curriculum well enough to find them. I know of no stronger instructional leader than Scott Langford, Superintendent of Sumner County Schools. In a recent webinar sponsored by the Knowledge Matters Campaign (min 40:00-44:00 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e84kf_NN), Scott said, “I would argue, before we start deviating from the curriculum, ask questions about lesson internalization, unit internalization, and the quality of student work…I believe teacher voice is very important but I think it needs to play out within the structure of our curriculum…” The RAND report tells us that curriculum policies and supports play a big role in how “by-the-book” educators are of the materials given to them, and the CEMD briefs note that “when supplemental products are layered on top of core programs without a clear rationale or strong alignment, they can interfere with the implementation of HQIM.” Teachers are less likely to substantially modify instruction or create or curate their own materials when their schools and districts ensure they have what they need to use them with fidelity. As summer turns to back-to-school season, it’s time to put those supports well in place.

We’re getting incredible feedback on the new Knowledge Matters Campaign Podcast season, “Literacy and the Science of Learning”—and nearly 10,000 downloads, one episode in! It’s an exciting time. For years, the “knowledge movement” has struggled to convey why content knowledge is critical to literacy in ways that resonate beyond, “Of course it’s important kids know stuff” or “Sure, it makes sense you’d do better reading words if you also know what they mean.” Our new podcast season gets deep on how knowledge, learning, and literacy work together in the brain. Hosts Dylan Wiliam, Doug Lemov, and Natalie Wexler detail why building knowledge and creating related word networks, or schema, are so vital to the reading/writing process, and why the brain relies on such webs for organizing and retrieving information. As one Twitter follower noted, “this lineup is basically the Olympics of educational thought.” I was at a wonderful event this weekend at Planet Word in D.C., in which Emily Hanford hosted James Kim from Harvard University. James (a member of the Knowledge Matters Campaign Scientific Advisory Committee) called schema “a mental model so that new knowledge has a home.” All season long, Dylan, Doug, and Natalie will explore how this home gets built, maintained, and used. Since we launched two years ago, downloads for all 13 episodes of the Knowledge Matters Campaign Podcast have exceeded 360,000. I am incredibly proud of this work and urge all our followers to subscribe—and to check out this current season as you go about your summer travels (or plan your summer PD!). https://lnkd.in/e5v7gE2y

We’re proud to share that our President and Executive Director, Barbara Davidson, will be joining Education Week and HMH for an important conversation on the future of the Science of Reading. This live discussion will explore what we’ve learned, what’s changing, and how AI is beginning to shape literacy instruction. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/g4QmWhn8 #ScienceOfReading #KnowledgeMatters #LiteracyLeadership #AIinEducation #EdWeekEvents