Reading & Literacy - District 91��Ƭistration

Why Literacy Gains Require Family Partnerships & How to Build Them

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:39:00 +0000

Date & Time: Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 2 p.m. ET

While districts have precise literacy data showing where students stand, families don’t. And they are the most critical component to ensuring their child succeeds.

This gap becomes even more urgent as chronic absenteeism rises. Students who miss school are among the most at risk of falling behind in literacy. Without strong family engagement, districts are fighting both challenges at once with limited visibility beyond the classroom.

In this 30-minute Ed Talk, explore current research on the literacy engagement gap and walk through a practical three-part audit to assess what families in your district actually know about reading progress and where the greatest opportunity for impact exists. Additionally, a district leader will share what she learned after examining her own literacy communication strategy, and what changed as a result.

��ǲԳܲ�:��Attendees will leave with a free, ready-to-use assessment tool they can use the next day in their district.

Key Takeaways:

What The Latest Research Says: Why literacy data rarely reaches families in a way they can act on, and what changes when it does.
The Attendance and Literacy Connection: Why students who miss school struggle to build reading skills and disengage—and how family engagement reduces chronic absenteeism
A Real District Story: What Brookhaven School District found when auditing their own literacy communication across schools, families, and students
Live 5-Minute Workshop: Attendees who join the live event will be able to participate in a ThoughtExchange workshop to share and rank family engagement best practices from their peers. The workshop will generate detailed reporting.
Free Self-Assessment Tool: Receive a ready-to-use assessment for use in your district

This year, gain a clearer picture of what it looks like when families become true partners in literacy.

Speakers

Chad Aldeman
Founder, Read Not Guess
Columnist, The 74 Million

Rachel Powell, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL
Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Federal Programs, Brookhaven School District (MS)

Kara Stern, Ph.D.
Director of Education, SchoolStatus

Sponsored by

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Gen Z is more optimistic, if not fully engaged

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 07:45:17 +0000

Students are increasingly confident in their readiness for life after graduation, according to the 2025 Voices of Gen Z from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation. The survey of nearly 3,800 Gen Zers ages 13 to 28 updates previous years’ findings on life evaluation, engagement, reading, absenteeism and preparedness for the future.

Overall, 56% of Gen Z middle and high school students said they are “thriving” in their lives, compared with 39% of Gen Z adults. Moreover, 77% believe they have a great future ahead and 56% say they feel prepared for that future—a 12-point increase since 2023.

Engagement improves, but unevenly

The survey found 2025 marked the highest levels yet for school engagement, with the most growth among high schoolers. Half of students said school gives them the chance to do what they do best, up from 40% in 2023.

Some 78% said they had a teacher who made them feel excited about the future, up from 70% in 2023. Still, many students appear to be missing out on key experiences:

About four in 10 said their coursework does not challenge them in a positive way.
More than one in three students said they had not learned anything interesting in the past week.
Only 21% reported that “all” or “most” of their teachers make content engaging, relevant and aligned to their learning needs.

Teacher enthusiasm plays a critical role, and as the report notes, “student engagement starts with teachers.” Yet only half of students said most of their teachers seemed excited about what they were teaching, and just 42% felt their teachers regularly made material interesting.

Reading habits, absenteeism raise red flags

Reading enjoyment correlates with academic performance, but 36% said they dislike reading, and 43% rarely or never read for fun. Compounding the challenges, just over half of students reported being assigned reading no more than once a week.

Attendance remains another pressing issue: 57% of students say they missed at least one day of school in the past month, and 18% missed three days or more. Mental health plays a significant role with 29% citing stress, anxiety or other issues as reasons for missing class.

What leaders can do to improve engagement

Leaders should focus on equipping teachers to create engaging classrooms, fostering a culture that connects coursework to the real world, the report advises. Other specific actions include:

Expanding professional development on student-centered teaching strategies
Assigning regular, meaningful reading across subjects
Reviewing cellphone policies to minimize distractions
Supporting programs that connect career pathways and post-secondary readiness

“Ensuring more students have these engaging experiences—and understanding the conditions that create a truly engaging classroom experience—will not only prepare students for their first job or college course after graduation but also give them the greatest opportunity to pursue purposeful and thriving lives,” the report notes.

The survey offers both optimism and urgency. Engagement gains among high schoolers suggest further progress is possible, but many students still lack core experiences—engagement, strong reading habits and teacher enthusiasm—that drive long-term success.

For district leaders, the challenge is to build on the momentum of 2025 by ensuring every student has access to an enlightening, purposeful education.

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4 ways to close reading gaps for middle schoolers

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 12:34:41 +0000

Current 8th-graders need close to a full academic year of additional reading instruction to catch up to their pre-pandemic peers, new research confirms. Here are four potential solutions for district leaders.

Although many districts have adopted early literacy initiatives since the COVID-19 pandemic, the reality is that many students are ill-prepared for the rigors of middle school, particularly in reading, according to a from NWEA, a K12 assessment and research organization.

The data is underscored by recent assessment results from the National Assessment on Educational Progress (NAEP), which found that only 30% of eighth-grade students are performing at or above NAEP proficiency.

The researchers contend that this is a result of a lack of explicit, structured reading instruction, even as students are expected to comprehend increasingly complex materials across different subjects.

“Our current middle and high schoolers were just starting their literacy journey when the pandemic hit, and we cannot lessen the urgency to support them,” said Miah Daughtery, vice president of content advocacy-literacy at NWEA.

The report calls on policymakers and district leaders to adopt a systems-level approach that supports both early learners and the unique literacy needs of middle and high school students.

Here are four ways to better support reading instruction:

Use high-quality, grade-appropriate assessments that provide data on the literacy needs of middle schoolers.
Create flexible schedules to promote literacy development throughout the entire school day and make more effective use of instructional time.
Understand the unique literacy needs of middle schoolers from a district-level perspective and invest in teacher professional learning in all disciplines, including at the upper grades.
Curate relationships with external partners who share similar goals in improving literacy outcomes and can reinforce literacy development beyond school hours.

Read the full report .

Find your next story using the slideshow below.

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Large print books promise powerful results for all readers

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:53:01 +0000

As NAEP reading scores continue to decline among 4th- and 8th-graders, district leaders across the country are seeking strategies to close achievement gaps and help students become fluent readers.

In our , school principals expressed that two of the most significant challenges keeping them up at night were closing the achievement gaps in their school and supporting teachers dealing with increased workload due to the diversity of student needs.

A solution may just be as easy as changing book formats. According to a nationwide conducted independently by Project Tomorrow on behalf of Thorndike Press, providing students with large print books is a reading intervention that is effective, easy to implement and addresses the challenges students themselves identify.

Roughly 1,500 students in grades 4-12 and 56 teachers and librarians across 13 U.S. elementary, middle and high schools participated in the study during the 2023-2024 school year.

The large print books students read are printed in a 16-point font with high-contrast black ink and increased space between lines and paragraphs on high-opacity paper that keeps the books similar in size to standard print editions. My research findings showed that changing to this format improved literacy development for all students, regardless of their reading levels or learning differences.

Large print books support literacy for all

One of the most striking takeaways from the study was how large print books helped a wide range of students, whether they were seniors in AP English or 4th graders reading below grade level. In fact, 87% of teachers reported that large print books had a positive impact on their students’ reading success.

For example, a majority of teachers reported that students diagnosed with ADHD showed increased participation in classroom read-aloud activities and were able to sustain their reading longer. Reading large print books improved reading comprehension, confidence and letter and word recognition.

The same was true for students reading below grade level: 77% of teachers saw increased reading comprehension among these students. As one 10th-grade special education teacher from Illinois put it: “Many of my students struggled with confidence and were not very engaged readers at the start of this school year. I feel that I have been able to meet their need to become confident and fluent readers by using large print books.”

Achievement gains were particularly evident at Marco Forster Middle School in California. For students who read the large print books, the number of those reading at or above grade level increased by 28% based on iReady reading assessments. The number of students reading at two or more grade levels behind their peers decreased by 33%.

Increasing engagement in reading

The improved experience students had with a large print book changed the reading paradigm for many. They saw value in reading comprehension, being a good reader, and their improved proficiency increased their enjoyment of reading.

An overwhelming 89% of students in grades 6–12 in the study group said they enjoyed reading large print books, and 48% of high school students said they were more engaged in reading the books than their other school books.

A 10th-grade classroom teacher from California reported that when she switched to large print books, “Students seemed far more engaged and far less intimidated by the text. When I opened the book and showed it to them, the physical response was far more positive and interested. Students stayed engaged during class reading time far more than when I’ve used small-print books.”

High student demand for large print

Not only did students stay engaged, but they came to recognize that large print helped them better retain what they read. I recall one student saying, “These large print books have a lot more details in them than the regular print books, right?”

I explained that the books have exactly the same text as the standard editions, but with large print, the student read more closely because the book was more physically welcoming.

This embrace of large print was reflected in students’ desire for access to more of them: 75% of grade 6–8 students and 86% of grade 9–12 students wanted more access to large print books in their schools.

A ‘no-lift intervention’

Teachers and librarians also expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for large print. In fact, 100% of teachers said it would be valuable to have more large print titles easily accessible to students in classroom libraries.

For district leaders wary about adding one more thing to teachers’ overcrowded plates, the adoption of large print books has proven to be an effective intervention that doesn’t require the district to hold any new professional learning. They don’t require a change to the curriculum, instructional practice or assessment methodologies, or require tutors or additional staff. All that’s needed is student access to these books.

In the beginning of the study, only 23% of the teachers said they were very familiar with using large print text to support student reading development. At the end of the school year, 79% said they were comfortable now using large print with their students—without receiving any training.

Overall, the findings confirm that large print books have a significantly positive impact on students’ literacy development, leading them to feel confident and have less anxiety about reading in the classroom. Having heard so many students, teachers, and librarians extolling the many benefits of large print, I hope that districts consider incorporating these books into their resources.

By making literacy more accessible and engaging, large print bridges the achievement gap and fosters a more equitable learning environment for all students.

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Reading on Benchmark: Proven Strategies to Close the Reading Gap

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 16:50:23 +0000

Date & Time: Thursday, March 27th at 2 p.m.

Schools are under increasing pressure to get their students back to reading on benchmark, and the downtrend of national average reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test show the issue extends to districts all across the nation. New research says the right high-quality intervention can make all the difference. But how can you tell if an intervention is truly high-quality?

In this webinar, Little Rock School District’s Assistant Superintendent will explore the high-impact intervention strategies that resulted in 75% of students in grades 1-5 receiving one intervention, closing all kindergarten-level skills gaps last school year, with growth levels continuing into 2025. In two months, these interventions have also reduced the percentage of students stuck on beginning of year first-grade skills by 50%.

Key Takeaways:

Research Insights: Studies on evaluating the effectiveness of reading interventions
Proven Approaches: Strategies to accelerate growth in foundational reading skills
Implementation Excellence: Best practices for integrating structured literacy interventions in your district

District leaders who attend this presentation will come away with actionable tips to help them choose the right interventions to accelerate reading growth and close achievement gaps in their district.

***Attendees will be able to safely download the “Step-by-Step Guide to Building a District Literacy Ecosystem,” which includes free resources and a timeline to help guide district leaders through the implementation process.

Speakers

Dr. Amy B. Cooper, Assistant Superintendent, Network 3, Little Rock School District (AR)

Jessica Reid Sliwerski, CEO and Co-Founder, Ignite Reading

Sponsored by

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Book bans: New Department of Ed is axing complaints

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 08:46:44 +0000

Nearly a dozen investigations into how book bans impact students were dropped by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Friday.

Amidst a record-breaking surge in bans—many race- and gender-based—the Biden administration had been assessing whether removing books created a hostile environment for students.

Calling reports of the bans a “hoax,” the Trump administration’s Office of Civil Rights has “rescinded all department guidance issued under the theory that a school district’s removal of age-inappropriate books from its libraries may violate civil rights laws.”

Civil rights officials have decided that books are not actually being banned. Rather, school districts, parents and community members are simply opting to remove age-inappropriate materials.

“By dismissing these complaints and eliminating the position and authorities of a so-called ‘book ban coordinator,’ the department is beginning the process of restoring the fundamental rights of parents to direct their children’s education,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor in .

“The department adheres to the deeply rooted American principle that local control over public education best allows parents and teachers alike to assess the educational needs of their children and communities,” Trainor added.

The anti-censorship organization PEN America responded, saying that calling the complaints a “hoax” dismisses the experiences of students, educators, librarians and authors who are encountering censorship in schools.

“We will continue to raise awareness and resistance to ongoing book bans in defense of students’ freedom to read,” Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, said in . “All students deserve to see themselves and the world around them reflected in the books shelved within their public schools.“

Book bans skyrocketed

Book bans soared by 200% during the 2023-2024 school year, with the challenges coming predominantly from far-right activists targeting stories of race, sexuality and gender identity, PEN America reported last year.

There were 10,046 book bans in public K12 last school year, leading to the removal of 4,231 titles by 877 authors, illustrators and translators, according to PEN America’s final 2023-24 count.

Some 8,000 of the bans occurred in Florida and Iowa. A Florida law that went into effect in July 2023 mandates that any book challenged for “sexual conduct” be removed while officials are reviewing it. Subsequent state guidance on the law has made the restrictions even tighter, PEN America notes.

An Iowa law, enacted over the same summer, requires that all materials are “age-appropriate,” a standard that prohibits any description or depiction of a “sex act.” Thousands of book bans resulted last school year, a sharp increase from the 14 bans occurring over the two years prior.

The American Library Association this week echoed Pen America’s warning about the damage done by book bans.

“Book bans are real,” the Association said in. “Ask students who cannot access literary classics required for college or parents whose children can’t check out a book about gay penguins at their school library. Ask school librarians who have lost their jobs for protecting the freedom to read.

“While a parent has the right to guide their own children’s reading, their beliefs and prejudices should not dictate what another parent chooses for their own children.”

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PEN America records stunning rise in school bans

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 18:07:21 +0000

With new figures revealing a stunning increase in school book bans during the 2023-2024 school year— over 10,000 instances nationwide— PEN America is mobilizing writers, readers and activists for Banned Books Week Sept. 22-29 to stand against censorship and support the freedom to read for all.

The writers and free expression organization, with partners nationwide, will host talks, readings, summits for young people, an art show, and other events over the week. Events will feature award-winning authors Rex Ogle, Elana K. Arnold, Abdi Nazemian, Kalynn Bayon, Ryan La Sala, journalists Kelly Jensen of Book Riot and Mike Hixenbough of NBC News, and Grammy-winning songwriter Joanie Leeds, who will perform songs in Coral Gables, Florida from her album FREADOM based on banned childrens’ books. In addition, conversations open to the public will be held with librarians, booksellers, educators, scholars on censorship, and literacy and literary advocates leading the fight against book bans. Events will be held in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Coral Gables, Florida, Austin and Dallas, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Farmington, Utah. Magic City Books, a Tulsa bookstore, will exhibit paper weavings created from shredded banned books by the artist and activist Ellis Angel in a show titled The Censor’s Cut: Weavings for Intellectual Freedom.

All scheduled events are listed .

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[Webinar] Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–9

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 21:14:32 +0000

Recent research has identified the most effective strategies to improve reading among students in grades 4–9 who have reading difficulties. The Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) recently distilled some of this research into practical recommendations educators can use when providing reading interventions.

In this recent webinar, Dr. Anita Archer reviews the recommendations, and provides insights for educators and district leaders into successfully conducting reading interventions with older struggling readers.

Topics include:

Building students’ decoding skills so they can read complex multisyllabic words
Providing purposeful fluency-building activities
Utilizing several research-validated comprehension practices

Speaker:

Dr. Anita Archer
Literacy Expert, Professor, and Consultant
Author, �鷡�´��ٳ�®

By submitting your contact information, you agree to receive communications from Voyager Sopris Learning. Please read for more details.

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Navigating The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy: Strategies for 91��Ƭistrators

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 13:41:33 +0000

Date & Time: Tuesday, September 10th at 2 pm ET

Adolescents have rich background knowledge, but they face unique social-emotional challenges, and their literacy should extend beyond basic decoding skills. They need to master reading comprehension, critical thinking, and vocabulary. Meanwhile, many educators in grades 4 through 8 have not had the opportunity to learn how to teach literacy skills and require additional support to provide the right instruction.

Even if it is challenging, literacy transformation is possible for adolescents. Districts around the country are achieving literacy success. In this 91��Ƭ Ed Talk, hear about their actionable SEL and the Science of Reading-based strategies from a non-profit education leader and a former K-12 administrator of special education and specialized instruction.

Why this topic matters by the numbers:

As per the 2022 NAEP Reading Assessment, only 34% of fourth graders and 31% of eight graders are reading proficiently
54% of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 read below a sixth-grade level, and it costs the economy an estimated $2.2 trillion annually
85% of public school curricula are delivered via reading text even though literacy is a cornerstone of success in all core classes

***All attendees will be able to safely download the “Supporting the Diverse Needs of Adolescent Readers” white paper

Speakers

Paula White, Executive Director, JerseyCAN

Kerri Larkin, Senior Education Advisor, Lexia Learning

Sponsored by

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[Blog] Short-Term Tutoring Supports Learning Gains

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 18:23:50 +0000

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Short-Term Tutoring Supports Learning Gains

By Voyager Sopris Learning

Knowledge loss during the summer between school years is well documented. A research study in 2020 revealed the average student of their learning during a summer break. Reading gaps based on income also increased during the summer, as middle-class students showed improved reading skills while lower-income

There is also research suggesting is measurable and statistically significant. So, it’s likely that even short school breaks, such as holiday vacation time, will see some erosion in student knowledge. And lower-income students are more impacted by learning loss because they have

All students lost instruction time during the pandemic and schools have accelerated instruction to help students make gains. However, for students from lower incomes, the pandemic loss combined with summer loss and even learning loss during shorter school closures, has resulted in some students falling significantly behind their peers. There is an average between high- and low-income families. However, short-term tutoring with literacy interventions has the potential to reduce learning loss and narrow the achievement gap by keeping students engaged in learning during school breaks.

Whether it’s a two-week break during the school year or a longer summer break, tutoring for a limited period can be very effective in maintaining knowledge, so teachers can have a shorter review period when school resumes and move on to new material faster.

Strategies for Short-Term Learning Opportunities

Many school districts currently provide summer learning activities, but short-term tutoring or targeted instruction can also help students retain knowledge and skills until school resumes. Short-term tutoring can supplement instruction through school breaks or even outside the normal school day in an after-school program. Tutoring is a proven strategy to respond to students’ individual needs and maintain their knowledge and skills and accelerate their learning.

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) these practices for targeted instruction outside regular school days:

Use researched-based explicit reading instruction
Select students through achievement data
Choose effective teachers or tutors
Identify the most essential content and train teachers to deliver that content
Conduct periodic assessments
Establish and maintain good communication with families
Provide adequate time for instruction and practice
Provide mentors or paraprofessionals to reinforce learning

Keeping students reading throughout school breaks helps them retain their reading progress. Students in grades 3–5 can lose an average of 20 percent of the progress they made during the school during the summer. When students are reading books that engage them during any school break, they develop stronger skills and become more confident and motivated readers.

Benefits of Short-Term Tutoring

approximately 90 percent of school districts offered summer learning programs. Using the school breaks and after-school programs as supplemental instructional time has the advantage of not impacting the regular school day.

Short-term tutoring:

Helps students overcome challenges, achieve academic milestones, and become lifelong learners
Provides individualized attention and targeted support
Clarifies complex concepts
Motivates and enhances student confidence

Whether short-term literacy tutoring is remediation or enrichment, it provides teachers an opportunity to reinforce student learning and offer individualized attention to maintain or grow literacy skills, so students are fully prepared for new learning when school resumes.

About LINKS to Literacy

LINKS to Literacy is ideal for short-term tutoring. Based on the science of reading, it is a reading intervention solution for developing readers in grades K–5 and delivers systematic, explicit instruction in the five essential components of reading. LINKS to Literacy is designed for small-group intervention, includes flexible implementation models, and follows a consistent routine with engaging themes about art, science, technology, travel, personal reflection, courage, and resilience. This solution gives students more opportunities for practice and immediate corrective feedback.

Learn more at

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