A note from Linda: Thank you for taking the time to engage with this newsletter! I enjoy the thinking these prompt and hope they have been helpful for you.

I recently moved into a new position as CEO of the Center for Effective Reading Instruction! This has shifted my time for these newsletters. I may not keep to my monthly cadence, but I'll still be sending them when I can! You can always catch up on the archive here. Now... onto preventing forest fires.

"Only you can prevent forest fires." - Smokey the Bear

Your work matters.

In September, I had the joy of celebrating a school that moved their overall school grade from an F to a C in one year. Teachers participated in a pinning ceremony, telling everyone in the room they played a role in this success. It was a beautiful moment that I was honored to participate in.

Last year, LRC provided strategic literacy support in grades 2–3, including:

• Planning and implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies.
• Restructuring small group instruction.
• Coaching instructional leaders.

District-level support was present weekly, working alongside teachers to address challenging behaviors, support planning, and collaborate directly with leadership. It was an intensive and necessary level of support for this school.

Shortly after the celebration—in a different conversation celebrating the same results—a fellow leader said something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about:

I understood the sentiment. The gains were significant, and the work required a tremendous amount of collective effort. But I can’t stop thinking about what happens next.

Now that the school has made these incredible gains, what happens to the support that helped make them possible?

Too often in education, we pour resources into putting out fires. We mobilize people, restructure schedules, provide professional learning, and work alongside teachers and leaders to address urgent needs. We see improvement, celebrate the progress, and begin redirecting our attention elsewhere.

The fire isn’t raging anymore. So we walk away. But what if the fire is still smoldering?

The Danger of Smoldering Embers

According to fire safety guidance, a fire can remain active long after visible flames disappear. Embers and hot coals retain heat, and a passing breeze, much like sudden staff turnover or shifting district priorities, can introduce oxygen that reignites the fire. In some environments, underground roots continue burning, mirroring how hidden instructional inconsistencies or unaddressed gaps can allow regression to spread quietly beneath the surface.

No visible flames does not mean the fire is out.

And I can’t help but wonder: Are we doing the same thing with our support in schools?

We see improved assessment results and assume the instructional changes are working independently. We see teachers implementing new routines and assume those routines will become habits. We see a school move from an F to a C and begin to withdraw the very support that helped make the improvement possible.

Improved outcomes are evidence of progress, not proof of sustainability.

• What happens when the instructional leader who championed the work gets pulled into other priorities?
• What happens when the teacher who finally feels confident with a new routine encounters a challenging group of students?
• What happens when staffing changes, schedules shift, or a new initiative competes for attention?

I’ve seen this plateau in my district work supporting fourteen of our lowest performing schools; year after year, sustainability was the challenge.

Without continued attention and ongoing reinforcement, those hard-won gains can fade. The old practices can return. The teachers we invested in to earn that progress move on. And before long, we’re mobilizing resources to put out the same fire all over again.

We Need to Shift from Firefighting to Fire Prevention

It isn’t sustainable or realistic to maintain an all-hands-on-deck approach forever. District leaders have competing priorities, and schools cannot operate in crisis mode year after year. (If they are, it’s time to take a hard look at what’s going on.)

The answer is to be intentional about what happens after improvement.

When a school begins to make progress, leaders can ask, “How do we get these results?” AND, “What systems will help us sustain them?” It’s possible that district support will still be needed to keep them from sliding backwards. If you're the school leader, have the courage to ask for the help you know is needed for sustainability.

That requires a different kind of leadership from all parties.

Leadership Moves

1. Protect the practices that are producing results. Identify the specific instructional changes contributing to improvement such as new schedules, consistent evidence-based routines, or stronger instructional leadership. Make those practices visible, clarify expectations, and establish ways to monitor whether they’re happening consistently.
2. Build internal capacity before pulling back external support. Ensure school personnel have the knowledge, skills, and systems to sustain the work independently. Can internal leaders facilitate planning, model instructional routines, and use student data to guide adjustments?
3. Monitor for early signs of regression, not just evidence of success. One strong assessment result doesn’t guarantee continued growth. Leaders need ongoing opportunities to examine student outcomes, observe instruction, and listen to teachers to determine whether driving practices remain in place.

What Does This Mean for Me?

It is thrilling when schools make significant gains. That’s why we do this work. But let's celebrate those gains while also asking the harder questions about what comes next.

It takes systems that protect effective practices, leaders who can sustain implementation, and ongoing attention to the work happening in classrooms.

We cannot keep treating school improvement as a series of emergencies.

If we want lasting change in literacy, we have to stop waiting for the next fire to ignite. We need to invest in the structures, skills, and support that prevent it from happening in the first place, even when there are smoldering embers.

The goal is to make sure we fully put out the fire and prevent it from starting again.

What “smoldering embers” are you currently watching in your own schools or districts, and how are you working to protect your hard-won gains?

Where have we been?

I attended The Reading League (TRL) conference and had the honor of introducing many amazing speakers including: Dr. Kay Wijekumar, Kareem Weaver, Vivek Ramakrishnan, Becca Silver and even Anita Archer! I spent 45 minutes 1:1 with Anita Archer and have no pictures to show for it. It was an incredible time with The Reading League North Carolina board members, all of my TRL colleagues and friends. And even better news, it's coming to Charlotte, NC (my city) next year!

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