I'm glad you're here. The only way to grow a revolution is by expanding our reach. And we cannot leave the reading revolution to chance. Our children need us.
Is this right... for us? / Leadership in a Reading Revolution Newsletter | July 2025
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“Any new initiative must be contextualized so it fits with the unique needs and resources of the existing system.” - Brown & Stollar (MTSS for Reading Improvement, 2025) Your Work MattersEducation systems are complex. While we lean on evidence to guide our decisions and look to examples where things are going “right”, we must also consider the factors that make our schools and districts unique. What at first seems like objective indicators requires a subjective lens; we can't ignore how some of the factors in our systems like the people we serve, the communities that we serve are people within the processes we use. The different products and curricula we might lean on or approaches we use are all going to be different and unique to our system, our context, our story. Rather, it is imperative that we are thoughtful about the decisions for implementing evidence-aligned resources and processes. As Brown and Stollar (2025) make clear, “Any new initiative must be contextualized so it fits with the unique needs and resources of the existing system.” Said a different way, “Is this right, for us? And how can we make it so?” In addition to deciding if it is the right fit, it behooves us to determine how much evidence is behind it. Timothy Shanahan republished his 2018 blog “Should Reading Be Taught Whole Class or Small Group?” in June 2025 in response to a teacher’s question about providing core foundational skill instruction in small groups. The original blog was in response to a question about the effectiveness of teaching reading in small groups. Shanahan’s response is timely as many of us are exploring the idea of a Walk to Read model while tightening up core instruction that can be delivered to the whole group. If you listened to the latest Sold a Story podcast, you learned about Steubenville a school that uses Success for All and uses a model similar to what is described in Walk to Read: “It’s that every student in the school has reading class at the same time. Every morning, from 9 to 10:30. That’s the reading block. Having all the kids in a school in reading instruction at the same time means students can be assigned to a reading class based on their skill level, regardless of what grade they’re in. So if a second grader is still reading on a first-grade level, she goes to a first-grade class during the reading block.And if a first grader is reading on a second-grade level, she goes to a second-grade class. This way of grouping kids is rare in American schools. In fact, it’s controversial. Standard practice is for all kids to get instruction at their grade level. The idea is to prevent kids from getting stuck behind.” (Sold a Story, The Outlier, February 2025) Educators listening to this podcast and hearing about the success with 3rd grade reading proficiency in Steubenville may then think that creating one reading block is something for them to implement next year. But is it? What data and other important information does your school need to consider before using the same model? What other factors are true in Steubenville that might be different from yours? Shanahan’s writing explores how much evidence there is for whole group instruction vs. small group instruction. And spoiler, the evidence is a bit unclear. Researchers aren’t comparing small group instruction to whole group instruction, and therefore we are generalizing study results. The main takeaway here is that both types of instruction might be needed - it will depend on student data and maximizing instructional time. Shanahan ends with: “My watchword is ‘never do with a small group what you could do just as well with whole class teaching.’” So how do we “get it right”? As the Shanahan blog explains, we must consider the current factors at play in our system. What does our data tell us about our students? Will we be overwhelming our intervention system with the number of students working behind the pacing of our core instruction? If small groups seem necessary, do we have enough knowledgeable and trained staff to maximize targeted small group instructional time? Do teachers provide effective whole group instruction that is explicit and systematic with plenty of opportunities for students to respond? In order to “get it right” for our system, we must begin asking more questions in order to apply the evidence we have. Leadership Moves:
What does this mean for me?We like to avoid the gray areas in education, seeking black and white answers. And yet, where we see success, we see leaders creating flexible systems that are responsive to data. As you prepare for the coming school year (or maybe you're in it) consider the student data you currently have, begin asking some questions, and be ready to adjust based on what you find. Recommended Reading:
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Where have we been? Let's Work Together!Sometimes, we know we want to improve but we aren't clear on what to do about it or why we aren't. That's the perfect time for an assessment of the system. This goes beyond reviewing curriculum materials and PD records. We conduct focus groups with teachers and leaders, visit classrooms during instruction, and listen closely to how your system functions in real time. Our goal is to understand not just what’s in place, but how it’s experienced. The result is a comprehensive report that includes clear evidence, summary findings, and key takeaways. We highlight bright spots, name areas for consideration, and identify opportunities that can shape smarter, more aligned decisions moving forward. I'd love the chance to work with you/your team. Now booking literacy system and coaching system assessments for 2026. Are you an individual or small team in need of on-demand support? Now, you can schedule a 90-minute session with me based on your needs at exactly the time you need it. The types of sessions are listed below.
For 90 minutes, we will meet and discuss your specific needs based on the information you provide when booking the appointment. The price is $250, paid upon booking the session (special pricing and booking link provided for current/former clients - check your email). Feel free to bring your team! Let's get your needs met at a time that serves you. Click here to bookmark the link or schedule a summer session.
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Hi! I'm Linda
I'm glad you're here. The only way to grow a revolution is by expanding our reach. And we cannot leave the reading revolution to chance. Our children need us.
Maximizing Instructional Time (Part 1) / Leadership in a Reading Revolution Newsletter | August 2025
A note: Writing this newsletter inspired me to write more on this topic, so it will be a 3 part series. More to come! "You can do two things at once, but you can't focus effectively on two things at once." - Gary Keller Your Work Matters In my experience, schools typically have multiple improvement goals focused on multiple content areas and or aspects of the work of school (i.e. behaviors). And as a former member of my child’s School Improvement Team, it was the same - multiple goals focused...
“There's decades of research that has shown a particular score [on a test] doesn’t predict what a student can do really well at all [due to the nature of how tests are designed].” - Dr. Matt Burns Your Work Matters Earlier this month, I attended a webinar with Dr. Matt Burns, hosted by TRL-VA and other chapters in our chapter network. This event began with a focus on understanding NAEP scores and then invited us to consider other forms of assessment that help inform our classroom instruction....
“The role of the default parent (read: educator) includes significant emotional burden. The constant availability (or perceived availability) and perpetual need can be draining overtime and can lead to feeling overwhelmed.” “Are you the default parent? If you have to think about it, you're not. You'd know. Trust me.” - M. Blazoned (Huff Post, 2014) Your Work Matters I began thinking about default “parents” in education recently after seeing a Scary Mommy headline that read “‘Default Parent...