Adolescents need strong reading skills in order to fully access content-area curricula and prepare for success after high school. Yet 30% of students in upper grades read below basic.
In part one of a conversation with Pivot Learning, Linda Diamond — author of the Teaching Reading Sourcebook — shares some of the reasons why reading scores for adolescents have decreased since 2015 and provides recommendations to educators for effective intervention.
Along with the video is a free tip sheet that includes 10 recommendations for intensive intervention that works for older students, four types of intervention that don’t work for older students, and a list of reading intervention curricula that Linda recommends. (more…)
As a young child, Keyon Anderson knew that his brain didn’t work like other people’s. His peers were learning to read and he wasn’t. His teachers told him to try harder. His mother was told he would grow out of his reading difficulties. Keyon was diagnosed with a processing disorder and held back in the second grade, but he continued to struggle. When he reached high school he was reading at a second grade level. He wanted to be successful but didn’t have the skills. It wasn’t until 9th grade that he finally received effective intervention for dyslexia. A dedicated teacher worked with Keyon to teach him the fundamentals of reading and ways to learn that worked for him. By the end of his freshman year, Keyon was transformed from a failing student to one with a 4.0 GPA and a fierce desire to learn. (more…)
Evidence-based practices that work easily in the classroom can be a challenge when teaching remotely. Pivot Learning’s Dr. Monica Ng and CORE’s Dr. Carrie Thomas Beck had a conversation over Zoom with Dr. Anita Archer — author and beloved teacher of teachers — about how to adapt explicit instruction for distance learning.
In this four-part video series, Dr. Archer:
Shares tips for using hold ups to encourage active participation when students are online
Demonstrates how choral response can still be used even when students aren’t in a classroom together
Discusses how to use partner responses online
Shares simple ways to strengthen bonds with students while engaging in explicit instruction virtually
Explicit instruction is an important component of effective reading instruction, especially when teaching students with word reading difficulties. But many explicit instruction techniques are more difficult to implement when teaching remotely.
Pivot Learning’s Dr. Monica Ng and CORE’s Dr. Carrie Thomas Beck had a conversation over Zoom with Dr. Anita Archer — author and beloved teacher of teachers — about how to adapt explicit instruction for distance learning.
In this first video excerpt from the conversation, Dr. Archer shares tips for using hold ups to encourage active participation when students are online.
This is the third video in a series of free on-demand professional learning videos from CORE and Pivot Learning* that feature expert advice about supporting students with word reading difficulties.
Racial, ethnic and socio-economic inequality in education unfortunately has a long and persistent history in the United States. These inequities are especially profound when it comes to how schools identify students with reading difficulties and provide reading instruction. But in this moment, many are working harder than ever to reduce barriers so that all students can receive the support they need to become successful readers. (more…)
This is the second video in a series of free on-demand professional learning videos from CORE and Pivot Learning* that feature expert advice about supporting students with word reading difficulties.
Many educators are building their skills to be effective in remote learning environments and want to know how to meet the needs of all their students. Students with word reading difficulties, including dyslexia, require explicit, systematic, evidence-based instruction and intervention. This hour-long video provides educators with tips and tricks for how to continue presenting high-quality reading interventions virtually. To ensure intervention focuses on a formula for word reading success, participants will learn methods for how to present phonological awareness, phonic decoding and text reading activities in a virtual learning format. (more…)
Jasmine Lane is a first generation college graduate and an early-career High School English teacher in Minnesota. In her short time in the classroom, and through her own personal history, Ms. Lane knows all too well the negative and life-long impact that poor literacy skills have on students. In her blog, “Literacy: The Forgotten Social Justice Issue,” Ms. Lane shares that her grandfather, Willie Lane, did not learn to read until he was in his 30s because he would have been “attacked, threatened, or possibly murdered for daring to be a Black Man reading in the Jim Crow south.”
Linda Diamond, president of CORE and author of the Teaching Reading Sourcebook, sat down with Ms. Lane, just a few short weeks after her beloved grandfather passed away, to talk further about how today’s failure to apply the science of reading to instruction continues to put young people, particularly those who have been marginalized and traditionally underserved, at a disadvantage and ill equipped to reach their full potential. (more…)
As we all continue to navigate COVID-19 school closures, we are aware that many of you are faced with an increased challenge to provide equitable access to learning for all of your students. We wanted to share a few free resources we’ve curated from our trusted partners that can support your own professional learning around equitable instruction and that can help your educators and parents with the transition to at-home learning.
If we can be of assistance during this time, please reach out. We are here to provide support and advice as you continue to serve our students. (more…)
CORE’s president, Linda Diamond, was one of the team of reading experts that contributed to the action guide. This guide will be an invaluable resource for states and districts as they strive to ensure all teachers have essential knowledge of the science of reading and how to teach students to read.
At the end of a typical school year, districts and schools are in the throes of assessing for student growth, planning teacher professional development, and laying the groundwork for a successful school year.
But 2019-20 was no ordinary school year.
District leaders need to look back and reflect on what happened, how it impacted instruction and learning, and how they can prepare teachers to make up learning loss next year through equitable instruction, keeping in mind that learning could continue remotely.
Our parent organization, Pivot Learning, and their partner UnboundEd have developed an easy-to-implement, customizable Equitable Learning Recovery Toolkit that includes everything you need to conduct surveys with all stakeholders about teaching and learning this spring and synthesize that data to guide professional development and lesson planning for next fall. (more…)
As a young child, Keyon Anderson knew that his brain didn’t work like other people’s. His peers were learning to read and he wasn’t. His teachers told him to try harder. His mother was told he would grow out of his reading difficulties. Keyon was diagnosed with a processing disorder and held back in the second grade, but he continued to struggle. When he reached high school he was reading at a second grade level. He wanted to be successful but didn’t have the skills. It wasn’t until 9th grade that he finally received effective intervention for dyslexia. A dedicated teacher worked with Keyon to teach him the fundamentals of reading and ways to learn that worked for him. By the end of his freshman year, Keyon was transformed from a failing student to one with a 4.0 GPA and a fierce desire to learn. 
This is the third video in a series of free on-demand professional learning videos from CORE and Pivot Learning* that feature expert advice about supporting students with word reading difficulties.
Many educators are building their skills to be effective in remote learning environments and want to know how to meet the needs of all their students. Students with word reading difficulties, including dyslexia, require explicit, systematic, evidence-based instruction and intervention. This hour-long video provides educators with tips and tricks for how to continue presenting high-quality reading interventions virtually. To ensure intervention focuses on a formula for word reading success, participants will learn methods for how to present phonological awareness, phonic decoding and text reading activities in a virtual learning format. 
Jasmine Lane is a first generation college graduate and an early-career High School English teacher in Minnesota. In her short time in the classroom, and through her own personal history, Ms. Lane knows all too well the negative and life-long impact that poor literacy skills have on students. In her blog, 
The National Council on Teacher Quality will be releasing a 
At the end of a typical school year, districts and schools are in the throes of assessing for student growth, planning teacher professional development, and laying the groundwork for a successful school year.