“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 Matters Education 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...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
“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....
3 months ago • 6 min read
“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...
4 months ago • 8 min read
“There is a big difference between assigning complex texts and teaching complex texts…” —Doug, Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Diane Lapp Your Work Matters In February, I discussed ideas about being intentional with the questions we ask when analyzing our data. In that newsletter, I shared my dismay at the plan to “find more passages.” And what is our instructional response? We find more passages that have the standards-aligned questions students “need to practice” or we start doing an article a day...
5 months ago • 9 min read
A note from Linda: This month's newsletter is a client spotlight. In it, I highlight the amazing work of Lebanon Road Elementary. Therefore, some of the usual headings will be different. "This was worth the wait.”— Gerald in Waiting is Not Easy by Mo Willems Waiting is Not Easy If there is a theme around state testing results and student achievement outcomes, it could be summed up by Mo Willems’ book, Waiting Is Not Easy. (2014) In the book, Piggie tells Gerald “I have a surprise for you!”...
6 months ago • 9 min read
A note from Linda: Leadership in a Reading Revolution is two years old! Thanks for joining me on this journey. Don't forget you can click on "view in your browser" and read all previously sent newsletters. "The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight.”— Carly Fiorina Your work matters. It’s the time of year when we have analyzed mid-year benchmark data, and we are working towards the end of the year with a renewed sense of urgency. The pressure is on for leaders...
7 months ago • 7 min read
“When you fundamentally believe you can make the difference, and then you feed it with the evidence you are — then that is dramatically powerful.” Your work matters. According to the Cambridge dictionary, self-efficacy can be defined as a person's belief that they can be successful when carrying out a particular task. John Hattie’s research that identifies the effect sizes of factors that relate to student achievement found that self-efficacy has an effect size of 0.92 (the hinge point is...
8 months ago • 6 min read
“User-centered design means understanding what your users need, and how they behave - and incorporating that understanding into every aspect of your process.” - Jesse James Garrett Your work matters. Last year in December, I covered the NYC Public Schools curriculum change, which was big news in the literacy world. NYC Public Schools were required to select from three reading curricula: Into Reading, Wit & Wisdom and EL Education, with all 32 districts implementing in the 2024 school year...
9 months ago • 8 min read
“Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books.” - Rose Horowitch “For these students, the inability to read well throws up a roadblock in front of every school subject: the instructions for a science experiment. The words in a math problem. The title of a song in music. As they get older, a menu, job application, street names or text message might as well be in a foreign language.” - Diane Benson Harrington Your work matters....
10 months ago • 7 min read